New self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh discovered, on the back of an earlier work

Experts have discovered a new self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh at the National Galleries of Scotland while investigating the work Head of a peasant woman with a white hat (1885). They found the portrait thanks to an X-ray taken from the back of a painting Van Gogh painted in 1885 of a woman from Nuenen. He probably painted the self-portrait, which will remain hidden behind cardboard and a firm layer of glue for the time being, in Paris in 1887.

The painting has been in the collection of the Edinburgh museum since 1960. The research took place in preparation for the exhibition A Taste for Impressionism, which opens in two weeks. It will not only show the portrait of the farmer’s wife, as was planned, but also the X-ray that gives an idea of ​​the self-portrait. After the exhibition, a restorer will reveal Van Gogh’s face, quietly and without a deadline, from behind the cardboard and the glue. Frances Fowle, curator at the museum: “This has to be done very carefully, we don’t want to put any pressure on it.”

In order to save money, Van Gogh previously used canvases painted by himself. He sometimes worked over the old performance and sometimes he turned the curtains. This resulted in two paintings on one canvas.

No doubt at Van Gogh Museum

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, an authority when it comes to attributions to Van Gogh, has no doubts about the authenticity of the work. Louis van Tilborgh, senior researcher at the museum, is enthusiastic about the find, which he says fits “into a nice series”. “It is of course very exciting to see what will emerge in the future.” He has nine works in which Van Gogh painted a self-portrait on the front or back. “In Hartford, Connecticut, there is a self-portrait whose back is known to be a painting from Nuenen. Exactly the other way around.”

The layers of glue and cardboard over the newly discovered self-portrait were applied in 1905, experts at the Scottish museum believe. This was done in preparation for an exhibition in the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum. At the time it was apparently decided that the portrait of the farmer’s wife was more complete, more interesting or perhaps simply more ‘finished’ than the self-portrait. Now, 117 years later, that decision may turn out differently. Curator Fowle believes the work comes from “a key moment in his career,” after March 1886 in Paris.

Sien, from ‘The Potato Eaters’

The farmer’s wife is from at least a year earlier. She could be Gordina de Groot, known as Sien, a woman who modeled for one of the two women in The potato eaters, which means that the painting continues as a study for the masterpiece from 1885. The self-portrait probably dates from three years before Van Gogh’s death, during the period in which he came into contact with the work of impressionists such as Émile Bernard, Georges Seurat and Paul Gauguin. That experience greatly influenced his style and eventually led him to the colorful and expressive style that made him world famous.

The farmer’s wife in Nuenen, or the front of the painting, was bought in 1923 by Evelyn St. Croix Fleming, whose son Ian is perhaps more famous as the author of the James Bond books. In 1951 the work ended up in Scotland, nine years later in the museum where it now hangs.

Once removed from behind glue and cardboard, the newly discovered painting will be part of a group of self-portraits and other works Van Gogh painted on the backs of canvases he first painted in Nuenen. Some of those paintings were stripped of glue and cardboard as early as 1929 by the Dutch restorer Jan Cornelis Taas.

‘Extremely rare moments’

Frances Fowle says such discoveries only happen once or twice in a curator’s life: “Moments like these are extremely rare. We have discovered an unknown work by one of the most important and popular artists in the world. Suddenly we have a Van Gogh, free of charge. For the public, it’s great too, especially since it’s a self-portrait. Because of his letters and his life story, Van Gogh is also about the man, not just about his paintings.”

There was also a Van Gogh discovery last year. Also read: Now it is really certain: this is where Van Gogh put his donkey down a few hours before his death

The museum in Edinburgh still has two Van Goghs, two late works. Fowle: “We would prefer to hang this painting after the restoration in such a way that you can view both sides, just like the Van Gogh Museum does with canvases of which Van Gogh painted both sides.”

A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of 14 July 2022