Sunday, March 20, 2011

Random VG #3

Television show: Doctor Who
Episode: The Lodger (Season 5)
Air date: 12 June 2010
Time: 07:31

One of Van Gogh's self-portraits can be seen on a postcard taped to a refrigerator.
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Film: Despicable Me
Release date: 9 July 2010
Time: 1:02:26

A framed Starry Night (very likely meant to be the original) can be seen leaning against a wall.
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Television show: Dexter
Episode: Living the Dream (Season 4)
Air date: 27 September 2009
Time: 27:35

A framed print of Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries can be seen on the wall.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Van Gogh Museum on YouTube

Just a brief note to encourage everyone to visit the Van Gogh Museum's channel on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/atVanGoghMuseum

The VGM has been putting out videos focusing on specific paintings. I've found these videos to be very enjoyable, informative and entertaining. Be sure to check them out!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

InSites Page for Watercolour

I've just added a new InSites page for:

- Tree Roots in a Sandy Ground ("Les Racines")

I'd welcome any other suggestions for additional InSites pages.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Two Van Gogh Paintings Rejected in Germany

This month the Von der Heydt-Museum in Wuppertal, Germany rejected two of the four Van Gogh paintings in their collection:

Still Life with Beer Mug and Fruit (F 1a, JH 82)

Vase with Flowers, Coffeepot and Fruit (F 287, JH 1231)

I always think it's commendable when a museum undertakes research on a work's authenticity and comes to the difficult conclusion that the work in their collection can no longer be considered genuine. Other museums are guilty of the opposite. Both the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco and the Albright-Knox Museum in Buffalo claim to own Van Gogh works (a painting and two drawings respectively) when these works have been categorically rejected by everyone else.

On another note, it’s always a bit of a challenge for me when a Van Gogh art work is rejected. For each rejected work, the following is required:

- Build a new record in my Van Gogh database's rejected table. Reconstruct all data from accepted works table (a field by field copy and paste because both tables are structured differently). Reconstruct rejected work's provenance records. Reconstruct rejected work's exhibition history records. Move image to rejected folder. Deleted original record from the accepted works table.

- In the website: remove image, remove webpage, change chronological listing page (and change number of total paintings at the top of the page), change thumbnail page, change painting A-Z page, change "next painting" and "previous painting" link on relevant webpages, remove work from World Map section (if applicable) and change total number of paintings on main page.

All just for one rejected painting!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Irresponsible Journalism

Irresponsible Journalism

Several news services have reported that a man has been arrested in Vermont after stealing a Van Gogh drawing from a private home in 2009. The art work is a drawn version of Van Gogh’s famous Night Café painting.

The problem with the story is that Van Gogh never produced such a drawing. It's not a genuine Van Gogh. And yet reputable news sources such as Associated Press and BBC News have reported that the drawing is attributed to Van Gogh. With absolutely no investigation into the authenticity of the work.

I've seen this happen a number of other times over the course of the last year. A couple in the U.S. claims that their precious Van Gogh drawing (a different drawing than the Night Café work) was stolen. Again, their drawing was a fake. A professor in the U.S. claims to have two Van Gogh drawings along with dozens of other valuable art works. His Van Gogh drawings are also fake. And yet more than a dozen news services reported on both of these stories claiming that the Van Gogh drawings in question were genuine.

A credible news service should do more than just take such claims as statements of fact. Ten minutes of diligent research would make a world of difference.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Random VG #2

Television show: Mission Impossible
Episode: Encore (Season 6)
Air date: 25 September 1971
Time: 00:33

In a crime witness's hospital room a print of Van Gogh's Sunflowers can be seen hanging on the wall.