Is Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ Actually A Fake? | The Authenticity Of The Sunflowers

Was the most expensive painting ever sold at auction a fake? This award-winning documentary explores the authenticity of the Sunflowers painting by Vincent van Gogh, bought in the late 1980s for a then record sum by a Japanese insurance company.
In 2002, the painting went on public exhibition alongside an undisputedly genuine version of Sunflowers, raising once again the questions so vividly posed in this film.
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[@ThePhantomSafetyPin]

This is simultaneously the most interesting yet dry documentary I have ever seen.

[@Frisenette]

If by “dry” you mean no hammy dramatizations and no unmotivated use of cookie cutter music? Then yes dry. It’s good exactly because it’s on point and no nonsense.

[@Swonder1972]

Yes, museum people are terrible orators...

[@ISCDESIGNAustralia]

agree

[@damiencallaghan9389]

You are an American Do not deny it I Know its true Everyone knows it is true so do not deny it

[@a.a.s.3799]

​@@damiencallaghan9389 you're saying it like it's a sin... let the guy/girl have a personal opinion and move on.

[@carolking6355]

Wonderful. The prices are unbelievable. Nearly 70 years ago my art teacher took our class to a film on Van Gogh. I was too young to appreciate it.

[@larsdejong5943]

yes, yes. funny thing to end up here, eventually. what makes you have intrest in van Gogh now ?, where as you didn't have any intrest nearly 70 years ago. i have this experience, one day i got detention, made to go out of the class for being a little stubborn kid, in the class room designated for punishment, sitting out the hour until the next class starts. in the detention class room i couldn't take my eyes of this van Gogh painting (sunflowers), a poster of it in a frame, and i thought to myself, i will never be able to do something like this. not even realizing whom the painter that painted that painting made poster is. until i am now retrieving memories from long ago, some neuro regeneration thingie going on. having this memorie come back to me.

[@davidvdmerwe1997]

That's KZbin. I started by watching how to make sushi and now I learned things about Vincent.

[@rascallyrabbit717]

I was watching a few 'opening vintage army MRE's ' and ended up here. Van Gogh _is_ my favourite thou I'm not sure how youtube knew that

[@carmenfestas1]

hahaha!

[@GypsyEncounters]

🤣🤣🤣

[@carolynboyd6796]

O M G I LOVE YA COMMENT. I KNOW THE FEELING.

[@christiangeiselmann]

When did Sushi live, and what prices do his paintings have today?

[@raywhittington1368]

This is a delightful look into the wealthy class society, as well as of the subject matter of fake art. Fascinating and very good watching documentary.

[@melware2784]

Just by way of interest, the sunflowers in the famous paintings are a quite different species of sun flowers to the commercial field crop variety so happily displayed in the so very interesting programmes , does it matter, not really.

[@bricaf]

I've been to the now expanded Van Gogh museum/gallery in Amsterdam, this is a fabulous documentary, I truly enjoyed it!

[@annereilley4892]

I learned art by copying paintings and drawings to learn their techniques. If I'd only known I was sitting on a gold mine, I could have auctioned mine off for millions and gone to Brazil before they realized. :)

[@donemigholzjr.7344]

The easiest way to tell a Original Van Gogh is that he painted exactly as if he drew it but instead of pencils or charcoal he used paint. He mastered drawing at a very early age. Vincent used hashmarks and cross hashing very efficiently. Very analytical but when he added color, the freedom came naturally almost by accident but it was still analytical, efficient in the most beautiful way.

[@smentina]

This is a movie of quality no doubt. And the plainness and eventuality of expertise are astonishing,-- how was it possible to gather all three on one screen!?

[@englishrose4388]

Truly fascinating and well worth watching. What Tom Hoving, the ex-director of the MET, said truly made sense--that it's muddy and doesn't have the snap that Van Gogh's paintings have. And, when you look at the supposed faker's paintings--they're muddy, and don't have snap...

[@silva7493]

That comment was so on point. We knew just what he meant, didn't we!

[@Tugela60]

That is like those wine connoisers who wax on about how great this or that wine is, but remove the label and suddenly they can't tell them apart, lmao.

[@maunster3414]

I had an interesting thought about the painting in question. Something to the effect of Van Gogh not painting when he wasn't well. I'm supposing, wondering if perhaps he attempted to paint when he wasn't well and this is one of the studies done when he wasn't well, but didn't like it enough to sign or write about.

[@bio-plasmictoad5311]

It's possible, there is a misunderstanding that Vincent would paint while he was very unhappy. But he painted while he felt ok and lucid and could concentrate on his art. I'm the same as I can only paint when I'm content and somewhat happy, while I'm unhappy the artist in me simply is somewhere else.

[@greyedgerton2890]

Something the narrator said brought to my mind a pathetic reality: some years ago I was alerted to the pitiful reality and scope of greed. A favorite work of mine was on exhibit in both London as well as in Los Angeles, and of course this was not possible. Easy enough to solve you would say. To be sure, sooner rather than later the copy would be exposed, some degree of integrity would raise their hand. That was a very long time ago, it remains still. If it is to be believed, neither museum was willing to submit their work for true authenticity. I thought this truly too incredible to be the truth. Both were afraid of possible exposure. If there is any moral here, it may be an ostensibly inverse relationship between truth and money.

[@MandyJMaddison]

Many artist's studios produced copies of paintings that were done initially by the artist. A studio copy may be finished and signed by the artist himself. Rubens, for example, left catalogues describing some of his works as entirely by his own hand, some as by students retouched by his own hand, and some as "by my best student", meaning Anthony van Dyck.

[@greyedgerton2890]

MandyJMaddison Thank You Mandy.

[@hakapik683]

Vincent was known for doing more than one painting of the very same subject, so in the case of the 2 paintings they compare at the 39:20 mark could very well be both by Vincent.. the "low quality" one was the first one he painted, was not totally happy with it, and then painted the masterpiece. Or possibly the first "low quality" one was simply a test painting, to see if he wanted to do a "better" one.

[@markotienhaara3267]

I highly doubt it because the mistakes made in the stem and the leaf. He would not have made such an error on just one painting.

[@j.dallesandro5576]

Thank you setting us straight 🙏

[@plutoniumpie]

Eeeeh, no

[@cassandragaisford2777]

what if this was the one he did for Gauguin mentioned in his letters to Theo and he made the error intentionally

[@taylorj6177]

Wow. That dude called it with the way the stems were painted and everything... i think it's fake.

[@kenlieberman4215]

The painting has been authenticated. Van Gogh did a third painting after then flowrs had wilted - this was actually documented.

[@taylorj6177]

@@kenlieberman4215 Where? And "wilting" would not produce these effects in a plant. Wilting does not defy physics...

[@anti-ethniccleansing465]

KEN LIEBERMAN ^obvious troll account.

[@AnyoneCanSee]

@@kenlieberman4215 - You work for the Japanese do you. Actually it is a confirmed a fake now.

[@mbaker335]

Hiding a possible/probable fake puts into question every other work of art that company may have. It is not clever to hide the fake but could be accounting fraud if they count it as an asset on the books.

[@mon_avis2978]

I suspect there was something about the Van Gogh painting destroyed in WW2 that the Japanese populace had developed such lore and attachment to Van Gogh the painter. The documentary said it was a bona fide original of five sunflowers. The fact that the Yasuda painting is predominantly yellow, a color associated with the emperor, must have something to do with it, I'd guess, as well as why so many Japanese make pilgrimages to Van Gogh's grave. Tremendously interesting documentary.

[@kevinmorrice]

yeah, its a china situation i believe which is "we say its real, agree or else"

[@fabrizio483]

Gorgeous accent the lady has. I wish I could speak like that without being mocked.

[@pocono_paintball]

If I was in possession of a masterpiece I believed was authentic while others expressed doubts, I wouldn't hesitate to have it verified. The Japanese company's reluctance to subject the painting for verification seems to indicate they aren't as positive about the paintings origin as they would like to appear.

[@crosskatt]

what reluctance??? they did many years ago!!

[@karenmarshall5444]

Disagree. They like the painting. It’s the rest of the world that’s obsessed with money.

[@timward3116]

Isn't it interesting that the monetary value of a work is far more dependent on the name of the person who supposedly created it than on the quality of the work itself? A painting by Van Gogh of a pile of dung could be worth millions of dollars. Yet an almost identical or even aesthetically superior painting of a pile of dung by an unknown would be worth nothing. When it comes to collectors and investors, it isn't the quality that matters; it's the prestige associated with the name. Of course, poor Vincent was virtually penniless when alive because nobody thought his work was worth anything. It is an absolutely crazy world.

[@MY-ce2qt]

That’s why my judgement of painting is not based on the artist but by the feelings the art work send me.

[@timward3116]

@@MY-ce2qt I suspect that the very rich often have no artistic sense and must therefore rely on someone to tell them what to buy and how much to pay. There are a ton of really great artists who paint after their mundane 9-5 jobs in their basements, garages, or spare rooms. And even many of the masters didn't paint all of their commissions; they had students doing it. M Y, I agree with you completely!

[@RollingOrmond]

Very good doc., brisk, no BS pace and narration. Some of this youtube vids wander off...

[@davefoc]

The examples of Schuffenecker 's work in the video seemed to be more skillfully done than the Yasuda Sunflower painting to me. Maybe the Yasuda sunflowers is a fake but Schuffenecker wasn't the artist?

[@stevesadler6429]

I have been to the van gogh museum in Amsterdam a few times the depth of the pictures are amazing -reminds me the difference between a madman and a genius - money that's all

[@atthebluebus]

2:58: "As a journalist, fakes have always been my speciality." ...Awkward…

[@LNLN123]

What I find it interesting is that after years pass by suddenly people in general come up and say that these paintings that they discovered belonged to some famous painters ... I don’t know if it’s real or fake to sell them , of course aside of the famous paintings

[@alexc.c.4025]

What if Van Gogh just painted the Yasuda painting as a Sketch, therefore he did not put the time and effort seen in the other 2 versions And you have 2 authentic sunflowers, so which one is the final one? A lot of artist paint a sketch before the final work, so this could might as well be a real Van Gogh for that reason. =)

[@pythagorasmathematik9585]

The real question is why a pictures worth is determined by who painted it and not whether it's a good painting.

[@William_sJazzLoft]

Christies apparently has some complicity in the fake scandal. They should have more rigorously investigated the provenance

[@jude1143]

Painting is about mood, feelings, and all thats going on within someones mind. It can change day by day. One day maybe a master piece, the next day not so good not so bright, not so moving. Not a good day for getting it right.He was human like use all.

[@ggghhjd]

A lot of the crass commercialism mentioned at the end in connection to the exploitation of Vincent's work is done by the Van Gogh family museum itself, where you can get mugs, ties, drinks coasters, jigsaw puzzles, and so on. But this is normal for museums these days

[@dibaldgyfm9933]

The yellow has faded, what a sad picture. The flowers were originally bright yellow. The highest price! But the picture isn't even really good. The yellow has faded terribly and van Gogh could be much better. And the background ... sigh. Could these buyers really not see for themselves? Gee I get emotional when I hear that it was Johanna, Theo's widow, who inherited all paintings and letters and transcribed them and created the fame of Vincent. Well done, widow!!! ❤

[@ironpirites]

Beautifully made documentary. Some of the settings in France are gorgeous and gorgeously filmed. I think it is important (to art students and connoisseurs) to discuss these things and to know about them. It sharpens one's powers of discrimination and appreciation. I'm not interested in the business side of art, but I would be if I had something to sell, or buy.

[@seffalohpod]

The painting in dispute could have been a first study - which Vincent wasn't satisfied with, and so he didnt sign it. If it were a forgery, meant to fool unwary buyers, wouldn't the forger have signed it?

[@paulm8084]

I agree. Unless it was never intended to be a forgery, just a copy.

[@professorsogol5824]

I am a bit confused. We have a great deal of discussion of three putative Van Gogh paintings of sunflowers: the London painting, the Van Gogh Museum painting and the Yasuda painting. We are told two paintings of sun flowers are mentioned in Van Gogh's letters to his brother. Also mentioned from time to time is the Van Gogh painting of sunflowers destroyed in the fire bombing of Tokyo in 1945. Which painting was that?

[@geraldmartin8195]

Thank you for this fascinating, thought provoking, and relentless documentary.

[@GrootsieTheDog]

The most important things said in the entire documentary start at 48:05 with the statements of the last two people - and they really point to the absurdity of the art world.

[@yugorc2248]

What's with all the ads every 5 minutes

[@QueenBee-gx4rp]

Yugo Boss Get You Tube Red-I haven’t seen an ad in two years.

[@Anonymous-or4ru]

Download Ad Blocker, it'll never be an issue again. And it's free

[@area51r]

you need an extension called adblocker. i have not seen an ad in at least 8 years

[@AndersPuschel]

Queen Bee Me neither, except I use AdBlock. I don't understand why people go on about the ads being a problem, when it's so easy to solve. It will be another matter if (or when) KZbin decides to block AdBlock.

[@eddy4688]

How have people not heard of Ad Blocker by now? It's so ridiculously simple to find and sort out.

[@fergalfarrelly8545]

There was a new brilliant yellow pait that Von Gogh couldn't get enough of. Uranium based i think and it has decayed. It would have looked totally different yellow when Van Gogh painted it.

[@freeleonardpeltier4148]

Very good point.

[@patrickr5359]

What I find *DISGRACEFUL* is we all know how poor Vincent struggled to make a living. He was mocked and teased. The *INSULT* to injury is the faking and capitalizing of 'The Sunflowers'. The incredible artist who painted 'Stary Night' was a brilliant, misunderstood soul. I'm so sorry Vincent...

[@nicywicy]

This is the same tale of a lot of 'famous' artists. Back then they just waited until they died and then decided they had value so the original creator never got out of poverty. His artwork is ugly, nothing interesting about it, reminds me of a bad song that becomes popular just cause and pay billions for, people suck at being sophisticated in any sense wish vampires existed to laugh and mock our stupidity as creatures.

[@SDeww]

29:36 lol filmed on a sunday early in the morning, because if the van gogh museum was open, their would be a line of people waiting to the corner of the street or longer!., you cant walk up like she did!, takes atleast 15-45 minutes to get in :P

[@hugolindum7728]

....if the museum WERE open, THERE would be...

[@holymartinez5510]

Bravo! Excelente documental.

[@JunkdafunkBoy]

If you love Vincent Van Gogh & dogs you need this t-shirt! teespring.com/vincent-van-dog#pid=389&cid=100022&sid=front

[@michicyrill6397]

Why is it so important to spot the fakes: Because it shows the lie behind the art

[@paulramsey51]

Maybe it's just a painting that he did when having a bad week and he couldn't get it bright, the more yellow he painted on top, the browner it got.

[@johnnydtractive]

Great documentary. To me, the black heart of the art world is personified in the quote from Tom Hoving, ex-Director of the Met Museum, at 48:04 where he says "And since it's not ever going to be for re-sale, does it matter?" Or maybe not black heart--maybe green heart. The only thing that matters, seemingly, to the art world is the dollar value. Whereas Van Gogh's paintings, none of which he was even able to sell in his lifetime, were anti-materialist, about all the invisible things in life that are more valuable than money.

[@slipryeel]

Paintings, tennis players and golfers are ridiculously out of the pricing norm

[@midnightchannel111]

I read all the comments... If you do not love art, if u don't feel it, why bother watching a video about it? As for Van Gogh, he wasn't painting the object in front of him: if u don't get that then, again, no sense in looking at videos about art... Of u don't like art, that's ok. Vincent wouldn't care...

[@drwcody]

He was painting the things in front of him. Do not take a 3rd partys opinion as scripture. Read what the source himself has to say about it not some wine drinker telling you they know the ins and outs of the artists mind when they are just a spectator on the side of the road

[@maunster3414]

Very well said, 2manysecrets.

[@thomasromano9321]

Van Gogh painted sunflowers out of his imagination? I doubt it. In Arles, France, Van Gogh painted every scene from actually setting up the still life scene, or going outside to paint. However, one painting, "Crows over the cornfield" might be the one exception: not sure if he was actually there. The painting, his last, is one which echoes Van Gogh's overwhelming despair. Yellow was Van Gogh's color of love. The Yellow House, Sunflowers, this color reflected Van Gogh's emotion of love. In the movie "Lust for Life" Kirk Douglas plays Van Gogh; it looks like the part of Paul Gauguin was played by Anthony Quinn. Quinn's resemblance to Gauguin isn't bad, but Douglas's aquiline features don't look anything like Van Gogh.

[@drewmiele2223]

Then you would be in agreement with the Philistines who mocked his work during his lifetime.

[@gaygambler]

midnightchannel I’m an abstract painter. And I don’t really care much about VG work.

[@daniisaurushax]

30 seconds in and I already learned something new

[@NewEnglandViews]

Occam's razor: If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, it's a fake flower.

[@binmaulin892]

This story was first told in a novel entitled A Visitor to A Paint Dealer, published in the July 2002 edition of the Chung Wai Literary Monthly. Please note the source.

[@psefti]

I love ❤️ Vincent, but his sunflower centre looks like a pimiento stuffed olive.

[@psefti]

Doubt there were stuffed olives back then

[@mr.ramjangles5165]

Haha! You made me laugh! I like Van Gogh, too! I painted Starry Night...with yarn! kzbin.info/www/bejne/hprMeamZaMqtf8k

[@bostonblackie9503]

Not crazy about Sunflowers.

[@anthonyfowler8634]

There is a very good reason to keep Vincent’s letters out of circulation but when revealed heads will spin some will role!

[@soxpeewee]

If it is "visually inferior" it's not surprising that Van Gogh wouldn't mention it. He painted a lot of things he didn't write about. Also it was recently found to be genuine. The "muddy" colors have to do with the chemical reactions of the paint to the jute material it was painted on. Van Gogh was not well off financially and frequently expiramented with mediums. Also the farther along in his life he went the darker the paintings became.

[@hugolindum7728]

The killer isn't the visual difference - it's the sister-in-law, who had all the paintings, never listed it. That is difficult to explain.

[@thomasromano9321]

That's true, but the darkest painting I felt Van Gogh executed was his last, "Crows Over the Cornfield," created just before his suicide.

[@woodwanderer]

The painting you refer to (Wheat field with Crows) is not actually his last painting, or at least while it may have been painted late in his life there are other works that are suspected to have been painted after.

[@mylesgarcia4625]

@@woodwanderer From the grave???

[@bio-plasmictoad5311]

When he first started his paintings where very dark Grey's brown's and greens. He started to be more colourful as he went on, if anything his colour were more muted and or deeper, but I would not call them dark, that was his first paintings done in Belgium/Holland.

[@HasturYellowSign]

The music reminds me of a cross between Charlie Brown & The Thomas Crown Affair remake. Enjoyable documentary though. The presentation style is clear and concise and serves its purpose in uniting the various clips.

[@alexhayden2303]

When I was in Arles, a local chastised me for pronouncing the town name like that!

[@skystanlake173]

I'd believe skeptics with education more than anyone official. Skeptics have their reputation etc on the line when they come forward, official entities have their money etc on the line when the truth comes out.

[@normandavies7603]

Very interesting. There are some things that make you think for yourself. Thank you.

[@sabi8381]

Perhaps the "FAKE ONE" is simply a study painting by Vincent. Lots of artists out there would understand this.

[@TNT-km2eg]

That top movie with Kirk Douglas and Anthony Queen was biggest homage to Van Gogh ever

[@ivorytower99]

After seeing the Van Gogh And Nature exhibition at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, in Williamstown, MA.; it's pretty fair to say that I am now a great admirer of Van Gogh.

[@dieSchreckschraube]

WTF is MA? Just write out the full name. The rest of the world is too busy to learn all your dumb state abbreviations.

[@ivorytower99]

@@dieSchreckschraube, "Williamstown, Massachusetts". "MA." = the state of Massachusetts. Donkey! Here's one you (may) figure out: G.A.F.L.!

[@ako-369]

“As a journalist, fakes has always been my speciality.”

[@shaunsiz.itsbetterbytube2858]

Was that David hockney doing a cameo lol waking behind the park bench

[@davidsmock8235]

Anyone want to talk about the guy using NETSCAPE at 8:36? When was this documentary made? lol

[@MrTruth111]

''In 2002, the painting went on public exhibition alongside an undisputedly genuine version of Sunflowers, raising once again the questions so vividly posed in this film.''

[@fakeplastic1826]

That wasn't the original Netscape it was a fake.

[@whatsup4616]

David Smock haven’t seen those trams in many many years in Amsterdam...

[@GS-md3hr]

@@MrTruth111 even in 2002 netscape was considered outdated

[@wynwilliams6977]

How else can you view myspace properly?

[@jamesanonymous2343]

how tender the field of Sunflowers, all staring at us in that curious manner of theirs. Vincent must have been staring back !

[@melware2784]

Wrong variety !!

[@americalost5100]

Such a shame Theo never believed in his brother's work when he was alive.

[@jari2018]

When relatives has decided theri relative is crazy then there is no turning back -much like the illness itself which would imply the relatives are also affected by the same illness but in deny .Ask a alcholic is he one ..you will not get a admittance.

[@americalost5100]

@cosmicVox13 from what I understand Theo never tried to sell Vincent's paintings even though he was an art dealer. They went right under the bed. Maybe I'm wrong......?

[@debranchelowtone]

@@americalost5100 They didn't want to sell right away. They built a collection to sell later at a better price.

[@thumbsdownbandit]

Fun fact: 35:52 "Still Life with Meadow Flowers and Roses", the big flower painting with the daisies and poppies, IS a van Gogh.

[@crosskatt]

very good-this Norman woman has consequently kept her mouth shut for a long time since she was proven wrong-but a public apology? No sir!

[@leona7522]

Excellent video. I enjoyed the subjective feelings as well as the objective evidence of what constitutes an original. A live musical performance cannot be faked. The experience of the music informs us of the composers intention. Perhaps forgeries could be considered variations of the original.The ultimate value of a work of art is its capacity to elevate the human spirit. A cell phone photo of a work of great art is also a forgery. And one that can uplift the soul and enhance the value of the original experience of seeing it. The feeling into what a sunflower really is doesn't require a certificate of authenticity. If the sunflowers could ‘fool’ Christies, then perhaps those of us with far lesser ability to spot counterfeits might be more concerned with what the artist was trying to communicate. Van Gogh’s original vision radiates from original to forgery to the billionth copy.

[@blacktoothfox677]

That, is a very, VERY interesting comment

[@jamesanonymous2343]

Schuffeneker deliberately painted the stem broken to indicate it was his copy, not by Vincent.

[@lucasdelima537]

A soothing documentary.

[@lestariabadi]

Having close relative & many friends who are bipolar schizoafektif, I tend to think one of the prettiest painting & the ugliest copy are the genuine one. The 2nd prettiest is the fake. Bipolar schizoafektif people are brilliant, happy & smart one moment (or days) then completely dulll the next. That may be the reason why Vincent van Gogh copied his own painting, to see the difference himself, for they tend to be more sane during the dull time.

[@lewis8585]

If that's the case, why didn't his widow note it in inventory? You'd have to accept this is the one mistake she made during inventory. When you look at all the other factors (painting technique, lack of mention in letters etc.) that would be one heck of a coincidence.

[@tamaraj4200]

Learn to spell

[@maunster3414]

Hey Grifty Tamara, where exzctly zee schpelling mistake in dat reeply u mentshuned?

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

43.00 'One villager who devoted her life on local history....' Diplomatic introduction of the village gossip...;))

[@LeifGrahamsson]

I have to say this documentary is absolutely ruined by almost perfectly badly placed ads...

[@throow]

Today some historians believe, that it was Paul Gauguin who cut part of Vincent's ear of in a fight.

[@jimprice9703]

2:54... It's July 2nd 2019, and the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral is still a painful fact. This image almost brought tears to my eyes.

[@kostyapolykova9879]

LMAOOOOOOOOOOO

[@Hardcastle1971]

If he was painting a picture from a freshly picked sunflowers in a vase, how long would that take before they wilted? Now imagine the next one being painted a few days after, they would be wilted even further, then the 3rd the supposed fake. If after a week of falling apart, the stems would fall over and the peddles start to fall off. So, if you notice... the first one was freshly picked, the second was after a few days, and the third was in it's dying state. Maybe, he didn't sign it. That's not unheard of from other artists.

[@jamesfarrell8339]

I have a facinating idea Wait I have to wait for the commercials to play. Never mind I lost my train of thought.

[@TheSteveGullick]

Why would ANYONE at the time want to fake one of his pictures which were considered worthless at the time.

[@Jacks_here]

I think the Japanese version is a study and one of the other two is the real finished version. Maybe he didn’t sign for that reason. A person with mental health issues would paint very differently in good and bad days for sure.

[@hanumanvaya]

He never would have painted even a study in such poor quality. I've been reproducing van Gogh's for years and at a glance that is an awful fake.

[@bethbartlett5692]

@@hanumanvaya Have a theory - *(The painting is authentic - he was testing elements of paint compounds* - *He never intended to release it - thus never signed the painting* - *Possibly did it 1st, liked the subject, but wasn't pleased with the paint clarity, once dry.)* I know absolutely nothing about this case - it merely is a mix of intuition, logic, and an understanding of the era Artitst's search for improvements of their tool products.

[@hanumanvaya]

@@bethbartlett5692 "I know absolutely nothing about this case - it merely is a mix of intuition, logic..." Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

[@carolelerman9686]

The stem going though the leaf is a dead give away, I don't care how nuts he was that day. It just wouldn't happen.

[@Sam-vi2ho]

@@carolelerman9686 Yeah, tell me again how van goghs works are photorealistic and made to resemble reality. It really can't be out of the question that it's a first draft which he hated and never wanted released, i feel the same way about 99% of pictures I take.

[@d4gworks]

stellar paintings and artworks regardless, almost achieving that timelessness of creation

[@suearengo6839]

doing more than one painting a day would be perfectly possible for van gogh...they were done at speed

[@silva7493]

Yes, not infrequently he painted more than one painting per day. I really marvel when I think about that.

[@gerry343]

Why not accept an artwork at face value? If you love a painting, does it really matter who made it?

[@Gwailo54]

The Fake Van Goghs, not The Fake Van Gogh's.

[@sytran666]

Van gocks

[@MichSignMan]

You capitalized the word "fake"? WRONG!!!

[@christiangeiselmann]

MichSignMan In a title/headline, it is correct.

[@thomask940]

The apostrophe denotes possession when used in the context of a noun. No apostrophe is required when used in the plural.

[@user-w8jhtre23]

Original is sold,then sellers pay someone to say its a fake,then owner sell it back for lower price back to someone who is close to original sellers(without him knowing that),the new buyer has original paiting for lower price and his connection(first seller) got a precentige out of it.

[@shrapnelface5978]

disagree with the snarky remark that artist that make fakes aren't as good. If anything it's harder to make a painting in someone elses style and pass it off.

[@hugolindum7728]

@1manuscriptman Museums are FULL of fakes. Why do you think the same museums don't try to test if paintings in their collections are fakes?

[@hugolindum7728]

@1manuscriptman I'm not linked to the art world except I know two people who are. I cannot give you more details as you'd undoubtedly know them. Anyway, one of the was the director of a world renown museum in the USA. He wanted to establish if there was a fake problem. He allowed scientists to test ten pieces about which they had no doubts. The science showed a shocking number were fakes. When he presented this to the board their reaction was immediately to prohibit all further investigations (I'm sure you can imagine why).

[@hugolindum7728]

I'll try to find the document Ary you suggested. Should be interesting. Thanks for the heads up.

[@Gwailo54]

@1manuscriptmanI am not sure I would call a forger a mere technician. Understanding subtleties requires more than being a technician. A forger, I would suggest, needs a good understanding of how the original was put together. We also enter the complicated area of where the dividing line lies between a fake, an hommage, or a pastiche. That is an area of debate I would leave to those better qualified than I. When we talk of forgeries, it is also important to note the distinction between copying an existing painting and creating a new painting in the style of an artist, which surely would take a bit more knowledge and understanding and not merely being a technician. The term fake is also an interesting area of discussion. If we say a painting is by, say, Titian, do we mean he mixed the colours himself, and then he applied every single paint stroke, do we mean it was done under the instruction of Titian, or it was mass produced by mere technicians employed by Titian to churn out the work to satisfy the demands of the aristocracy who applied more importance to having a work adorning a church or palace and applying the name of a painter to it, or was it understood that Titian would not have been involved in every single last detail? Fast forward through the centuries, the painter as studio becomes less commonplace and the painter as an individual creating the work from start to finish is the norm, so the idea and concept of a true and original work by an artist becomes a different area for debate. I'm sure there are plenty of individuals who, given pots of paint could create a dripper, but would they create something that could be mistaken for a Pollock? The technique of dribbling paint is one thing, but producing the finished product is another. Fakes or forgeries (is there a difference between the two?) are fascinating subjects for discussion, and I doubt if a concord is ever going to be the likely outcome.

[@frankfacts6207]

it's ripping off the artist and his or her family, private galleries, public museums. forgeries are not artistic - forgers in the act of forgery are not artists. forgers are mimics nothing more

[@-The-Darkside]

Since been found to be legitimate. Even by Dutch experts. They confirmed the canvas was from the same roll as the others among other things.

[@DursunX]

TOO TOO MANY ADS but still a great doco

[@wayneandrews3128]

I have a genuine Three Pound Note. I wonder if Christies would be interested in selling it for me?

[@MichaelOZimmermannJCDECS]

There is no proof of the authenticity or the opposite... It is all just conjecture and personal opinion. Since Van Gogh was a very emotional unstable individual, changes in style are acceptable. As long as there is only opinion, but not proof, I consider the painting authentic! I wonder what the fascination of Van Gogh is for the Japanese!?

[@mariehartmann8182]

I absolutely agree with you. This documentary is bad journalism, full of assumptions.

[@deeprollingriver5820]

I never thought the sunflowers was worth millions of dollars

[@louiscypher7090]

'One of the tragedies...' was the loss of a painting? There was a war going on lady. Lol.

[@martinhasson4942]

Well said!!!👈 That's the " ALMOST MISSED" JUMP-OUT LINE 🏵️🏵️🏵️🏵️🏵️🏵️🏵️🏵️🏵️🏵️🏵️🏵️

[@AnyoneCanSee]

ONE of the tragedies. And actually, each generation leaves us only a few pieces of great art. If we lose them it is a great tragedy. People live and die and who cares? Most people are just ants. They live and create nothing, leave nothing. A truly great work of art is worth a million people or more.

[@MH-hj2jk]

She uses the word among the tragedies at the end of the second world war, not one of, your miss quote is ignorant.

[@AnyoneCanSee]

@@MH-hj2jk - I don't think 'among,' or 'one' really matter. One in that context would mean one of many. Either way, it doesn't mean it is the main tragedy. I imagine most feel that loss of life is the main tragedy but of course, the loss of art, architecture, historical buildings are a part of the tragedy of war. After the war in Iraq, many historical artefacts were destroyed. In Afghanistan, they destroyed the ancient city of Aleppo. They are all tragedies.

[@louiscypher7090]

@@MH-hj2jk semantics.

[@marklimbrick]

Toronto expert refers to turpentine made from sunflowers. Cannot find any reference and oil is not air drying like linseed either.

[@jaydeevp16]

I think we need Sherlock here. 😂

[@nssherlock4547]

You rang?

[@markdezuba]

In the end no one really knows.

[@watermelonlalala]

And there is where the cult of personality comes in, even more. Someone once gave me, as a joke, lock of a Beatle's hair in a plastic case. I knew it was phony, but I got a kick out of it, anyway. Had the presentation been more clever, I might have been able to fool myslef.

[@vanrijngo]

I will tell you if you really want to know,.... and I'll also tell you,... you won't be able to take that to the bank with you.

[@vanrijngo]

Why?

[@mountains7694]

I can't beleive the French expert was allowed to touch the paintings with the stick like that and put them on a mantle edge!

[@eriksmith2514]

If Van Gogh did multiple sunflower paintings, couldn't the "fakes" simply be Van Gogh's inferior or trial versions? And that's why he never talked about those particular paintings in his letters?

[@melware2784]

The fact is that the variety of sunflower Van Gogh painted is totally different = it is not the commercial field sunflower , why is this never mentioned ?

[@artxyfeng]

sometimes the colour of the suns first light in the morning is I striking harmony with the mood of ones self when one awakes. just saying...

[@vgovger4373]

At 15:10, this expert points out a mis placed stem and leaf, and a bent stem...is it possible that van Gogh copied all three NOT while looking at his previous version, but copying all 3 from the actual flower arrangement? This would account for it not being the same and having a bent stem and so on?

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

Every time you form a plural with 's, a kitten dies.

[@keithbentley6081]

Indians and Pakistanis do it all the time. I wonder if it is a transfer error of some sort from their languages. Quite baffling.

[@njmccormackgmail]

Flower's, painting's, fake's.... three dead kitten's, oops four now.

[@orrepgr2994]

I hate kitten’s and cat’s

[@troyevitt2437]

It's like a poorly crafted Marc Anthony to which not even van Gogh would lend an ear.

[@troyevitt2437]

I think it was because we started pluralizing TV's and CD's as contractions of "visions" and "disks"

[@peternyc8867]

Van Gogh's work is not that difficult to copy in various style if you use the original oil color pigment and antique canvas

[@scenicharbor2736]

Awesome documentary, but filled with more commercials than necessary