The authenticity of ‘Elimar,’ a painting attributed to Vincent van Gogh, has been questioned by experts. Despite spending over $30,000 on authentication, the LMI Group’s claim that the work is a Van Gogh masterpiece has not generated much buzz.
The Persistent Myth of a Multi-Million-Dollar Garage Sale Find
LMI Group has spent over $30,000 authenticating a mysterious translation of Michael Ancher‘s ‘Portrait of Niels Gaihede’, which one Reddit user described as ‘a Van Gogh restored by Cecilia Giménez.‘
A Story That Ought to Be a Crowd-Pleaser
After the data science art research firm LMI Group sent out a press release attributing the painting ‘Elimar‘—which it owns—to Vincent van Gogh, there was surprisingly little of the ‘is it or isn’t it?’ chatter that lost masterpiece stories usually generate. The story goes that an anonymous collector bought the painting at a Minnesota garage sale in 2016 for under $50. They knew they had something great and reached out to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam but were rebuffed. LMI Group then stepped in, buying ‘Elimar’ for an undisclosed sum.
The Science Behind the Attribution
The company has since spent over $30,000 authenticating the orphan artwork with high-tech canvas weave analysis, Hausdorff measurements, FTIR and Raman spectroscopies, and even DNA analysis—though not artificial intelligence. The press release calls ‘Elimar’, which was based on Michael Ancher‘s ‘Portrait of Niels Gaihede’, ‘an emotionally rich, profoundly personal work created during the final and tumultuous chapter of van Gogh’s life.‘
Speculation Abounds
The report devotes nearly a quarter of its pages to ‘unexpected revelations into the mind and heart of van Gogh,’ who allegedly painted the work in 1889 while confined at the asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Speculation abounds: ‘One of the reasons he made this remarkable work may have been to prove to himself that he was recovering from the psychotic breaks of the past year…’ ‘Vincent adopted this name in what is effectively a fictive self-portrait to conjure the newly recovered man he wanted to be.‘
Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter born on March 30, 1853.
He is known for his vibrant and expressive works such as 'Sunflowers' and 'Starry Night'.
Van Gogh struggled with mental health issues and poverty throughout his life.
He sold only one painting during his lifetime but gained recognition after his death.
His legacy has inspired countless artists and art movements.
The Historical Context and Scientific Analyses
A tl;dr version of the report would skip the 100+ pages of fluff and go straight to the historical context and scientific analyses. In brief, Van Gogh had an affinity for the sea and often painted laborers, including fishermen, and portraiture was central to his oeuvre. The painting has compositional similarities to works by Gauguin and a pentimento that includes a woman who could be a reference to Sien Hoornik. The fisherman’s facial details are similar to those found in other Van Gogh works, and there are other technical similarities.
Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter born on March 30, 1853.
He is known for his vibrant and expressive works, such as 'Starry Night' and 'Sunflowers.'
Van Gogh suffered from mental illness and struggled with poverty throughout his life.
Despite this, he produced over 2,000 artworks during his lifetime.
His innovative style blended bold colors and thick brushstrokes to create a unique visual language.
Van Gogh's legacy has inspired countless artists and continues to captivate audiences worldwide.
A Prolific Interpreter of Other Artists’ Work
Van Gogh was a prolific interpreter of other artists’ work, particularly between 1887 and 1890. Not long before his death, he wrote to his brother Théo van Gogh that it’s ‘not copying pure and simple that one would be doing. It is rather translating into another language, the one of colors, the impressions of chiaroscuro and white and black.‘ He painted more than thirty translations while at Saint-Paul asylum—twenty-one were inspired by Jean-François Millet—putting his own spin on each work’s technical details, subject matter, composition, and, most notably, the colors and brushwork.
A Rediscovered Van Gogh That Doesn’t Quite Live Up
And that might be why LMI Group’s big reveal isn’t generating a lot of buzz. What fun is there in a rediscovered Van Gogh that doesn’t have any of the dynamism and vibrancy and movement that define this artist’s work? There’s a lot of science to unpack in the LMI Group report, but what much of it confirms is that the painting could have been made in van Gogh‘s lifetime. We all want to be that anonymous collector who finds a million-dollar masterwork at a garage sale. Most of us won’t be.
A Lesson in Skepticism
Teri Horton‘s $5 thrift shop find was not, in fact, a $50,000,000 Jackson Pollock. Don’t even get me started on the ‘Picassos‘ and ‘Chagalls‘ and ‘Basquiats‘ that even supposedly reputable small auction houses are willing to put on the block. Still, ‘Elimar‘ could turn out to be a real masterpiece—I’m always ready to be surprised, though the company will likely have a tougher time convincing the Van Gogh Museum, whose reply to the anonymous original buyer was a cut-and-dried ‘We have carefully examined the material you supplied to us and are of the opinion, based on stylistic features, that your work cannot be attributed to Vincent van Gogh.‘
