Vincent Van Gogh Paintings
Two classic Vincent Van Gogh paintings are back on public display after seventeen years. Stealing the painting in 2002, the thieves used a ladder to enter the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The Dutch master’s pieces, “View of the Sea at Scheveningen” and “Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen,” are currently back on display at the museum. Placing these Vincent Van Gogh paintings back in their rightful homes.
Authorities were led to the paintings after a 14-year search and investigation into a group linked to the Italian mafia. Museum staff spent two years examining the damage to the paintings and restoring them. Hanging them up recently in the museum galleries. “We are delighted to be able to put these significant works in our collection. Back on display in the museum, where they belong,” museum director Axel Ruger said in a statement. “The conservators have done a brilliant job and the paintings will now go back on permanent display in their full glory, for everyone to see.”
Both paintings required conservation treatment
Undergoing conservation treatment the paintings, which date from the 1880s, restorators assessed their damages before they returned to public display. During its time away from the museum, “View of the Sea at Scheveningen,” one of Van Gogh’s earliest works in oil paint, sustained some harm. According to the museum, the significance of this painting is two-fold, as it is one of two seascapes by Van Gogh in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, during the theft, a piece of paint was missing from the bottom left-hand corner. However, museum conservators using a 3D-printed mold replicating the original brushstrokes were able to restore the painting.
During the conservation treatment process, they found the remains of a signature “Vincent.” However, the museum believes that Van Gogh himself did not write it. Fortunately, “Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen,” sustained hardly any damage, the museum said. The painting depicts the church in Nuenen, a city in the Netherlands, where Van Gogh’s father was the minister.
The museum found that both paintings were covered with a varnish. The varnish was not present before and subsequently yellowed over time. Conservators were able to remove the layers of varnish and retouch the paintings. Consequently, in the process of removing varnish from “Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen,” they discovered Van Gogh likely applied himself. Clues pointing to the protein-based and marks the first time confirmed their suspicions. Noting that this particular varnish being used painter’s early work. The museum has also selected new frames for both paintings. The thieves removing the previous ones. This is not the first happy ending in recent Dutch history – hopefully, this pattern of restoring paintings to their rightful owners will continue.
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