The Hamburg auction house Dechow wants to auction a painting supposedly by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). The oil painting entitled “The Wijk Mill” is to be presented to potential buyers on Monday morning. Whether the painting is actually by the Dutch painter is not entirely certain, as the auction house explains on its website.
The Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum, whose verdict is of great importance, said on dpa request: “The museum has examined this painting and does not think that the work was made by Vincent van Gogh.” The owner of the picture “knows the opinion of the museum”.
The reports obtained from the auction house, which otherwise sells industrial machines, allegedly indicate that it was actually painted by van Gogh. He used it to copy a motif by the artist Jacob van Ruisdael, whom he admired. He had painted “The Mill of Wijk bij Duurstede” around 1670.
The picture, signed “van Gogh” – all other works by the painter bear the signature “Vincent” – is said to have been acquired in 1904 by a Leipzig merchant in Paris. He bequeathed it to his granddaughter, who sold it to the current private owner in Schleswig-Holstein. Now it is to be auctioned in an online auction on September 1st. The minimum bid is 500,000 euros.
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