Conservators at Rotterdam's Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum have discovered that Vincent van Gogh's painting *Poplars near Nuenen* (1885) conceals two earlier compositions: a moonlit view of a church tower and graveyard from July 1884, and a subsequent reworking in Paris in late 1886 that brightened the autumnal landscape. X-ray imaging revealed the original church scene, which Van Gogh painted over after his father's death. The final version, now restored after four years of conservation, goes on display on 7 February.
This discovery matters because it offers rare insight into Van Gogh's creative process and emotional state, suggesting he may have painted over the church tower and graveyard—deeply tied to his strained relationship with his father, who was buried there—as a psychological act. It also confirms a long-overlooked 1903 account that Van Gogh reworked the painting in Paris, using pigments unavailable in Nuenen, showing how his style evolved toward brighter color. The find enriches understanding of a major artist's reuse of canvases and the personal narratives embedded in his work.