Art lovers are in for a rare treat as four forgotten works by Dutch masters Vincent van Gogh and 17th-century painter Govert Flinck have gone on display, after gathering dust for more than 100 years.\nThe works include a never-before-seen Van Gogh drawing, which had been in private hands until now. Called The Hill of Montmartre with Quarries, Van Gogh\u2019s monochrome artwork dates from 1886 when he was living in Antwerp and Paris, where he worked at the studio of leading French historical painter Fernand Cormon.
\nThe sketch, together with a second drawing The Hill of Montmartre, were unveiled Tuesday at an exhibition at the Singer Laren museum in central Netherlands.
\n\u201cSuch a discovery is always great. It\u2019s really exceptional and does not often happen,\u201d Teio Meedendorp, senior researcher for the Amsterdam-based Van Gogh Museum, told AFP.
\nMeedendorp said the Van Goghs had undergone an extensive verification process. For many years Montmartre with Quarries sat unnoticed in a private collection until it was brought to the Van Gogh Museum in 2013 for authentication, he said.
\n\u201cAfter it came in we verified that it was indeed a Van Gogh \u2013 but we were intrigued by the question of its origins.\u201d The Van Gogh Museum\u2019s art sleuths discovered the sketch originally belonged to Johanna Van Gogh-Bonger, the wife of Vincent\u2019s brother Theo.
\nIt had been sold into a private collection in 1917. \u201cWe authenticated it in 2013, but it took a bit longer because it\u2019s up to the owner and not us to reveal the work,\u201d he added, saying \u201cwe had to keep it under wraps for a few years.\u201d
\nThe sketch also gave the museum an opportunity to authenticate a second work in its possession, called The Hill at Montmartre. The type of stationery used in both sketches is identical and \u201cnicely illustrates how he (Vincent) was still searching for his own style in the winter and spring of 1886,\u201d the Singer Laren museum said in a statement.
\n\u201cIt was a very nice investigation about a work that appeared out of nowhere. It was never published, never put on display,\u201d Meedendorp added. Meanwhile, the Flincks were uncovered after the anonymous owner contacted the museum to offer the portraits for its current exhibition of the 17th-century master, who studied under Rembrandt but later developed his own style.
\n\u201cThe paintings were hung on their owner\u2019s living room walls when he contacted the Amsterdam Museum and asked if they\u2019d be interested in seeing them,\u201d Dutch newspaper Trouw said.
\n(The Guardian) <\/p>\n