De zaak Van Gogh: Identiteitskwesties
Yves Vasseur
Mercatorfonds, 2020
€29,95
During a press conference at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in November 2018, the author of this book revealed that one of the only two known photos of the painter Vincent van Gogh is actually a photo of his brother Theo. The research that led to that unexpected discovery also brought with it completely new anecdotes, fascinating encounters and plot twists that wouldn’t look out of place in a thriller.
After that first find, Yves Vasseur came into contact with the descendants of Samuel Delsaut. He had discovered two drawings in his attic near Mons in 1958, which were later attributed to Van Gogh and are now kept in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The archives of the Delsaut family revealed an entire plot, which raised doubts about the authenticity of those drawings. They also contain an extensive correspondence between Carlo Delsaut, Samuel’s son, and Paul Gachet, son of Dr. Gachet, Van Gogh’s physician in Auvers-sur-Oise. On the basis of this correspondence, the author was able to trace the history of both a non-existent painting by Van Gogh and a disappeared painting by Paul Gachet.
This book is an entertaining lesson in historical criticism. In these times of fake news, it aims to provide a basis for the exchange of thoughts, so that a distinction can be made between information and rumors, between the work of a journalist and an advertising strategy, between the falsification of what is true and the passive acceptance of which is untrue. IN DUTCH!
ISBN: 9789462302624
