Sunset at Montmajour

Painting by Vincent van Gogh

Sunset at Montmajour

Artist| Vincent van Gogh
Year| 1888
Medium| Oil on canvas
Dimensions| 73.3 cm × 93.3 cm (28.9 in × 36.7 in)

Sunset at Montmajour is a landscape in oils painted by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh on 4 July 1888.[1][2][3] It was painted while the artist was at Arles, France and depicts a landscape of garrigue with the ruins of Montmajour Abbey in the background.[1][4] The painting is 73.3 cm × 93.3 cm (28.9 in × 36.7 in). For over 100 years, it was in a Norwegian industrialist's private collection and wrongly assumed to be fake, before being re-examined, authenticated and sold to its current private owner. The painting was temporarily on display from 24 September 2013 until 12 January 2014 as part of an exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.[4]

Its authenticity was questioned several times before it was confirmed as a genuine van Gogh work in 2013. It is the first full-sized painting by Van Gogh to be newly confirmed since 1928.[1][5]

## History

[edit]

The painting was inventoried among Theo van Gogh's collection of his brother's works in 1890.[6][7] It was sold in 1901 by his widow, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, to a Paris art dealer.[8] In 1908, the art dealer sold it to Christian Nicolai Mustad.

In 1908 a Norwegian industrialist, Christian Nicolai Mustad, who believed it to be the work of van Gogh,[2] purchased and displayed the painting at his home. According to Mustad's family, the French ambassador to Sweden, while a guest at Mustad's home, advised that it probably was not by van Gogh.[1] At that time Mustad took it down from display. The painting remained stored in his attic until Mustad's death, when it reappeared as part of his estate.[9]

## Authentication

[edit]

External videos

A new Van Gogh discovery: Sunset at Montmajour (in Dutch), Van Gogh Museum

In the 1990s, the painting was shown to staff at the Van Gogh Museum, but it was dismissed as not the work of van Gogh because it was not signed.[1] With the development of improved investigative techniques, however, in 2011 a two-year investigation was launched by the Van Gogh Museum to examine the possible authenticity of the painting.[10] The painting was subjected to a detailed investigation of style and materials. It was discovered to have been painted in the same range of paints that appears in works by van Gogh at that period,[1] which led to further research. Among the evidence that confirmed the painting's authenticity was a letter written by Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo on 5 July 1888, describing a landscape that he had painted the previous day:

> "Yesterday, at sunset, I was on a stony heath where very small, twisted oaks grow, in the background a ruin on the hill, and wheatfields in the valley. It was romantic, it couldn’t be more so, à la Monticelli, the sun was pouring its very yellow rays over the bushes and the ground, absolutely a shower of gold. And all the lines were beautiful, the whole scene had a charming nobility. You wouldn’t have been at all surprised to see knights and ladies suddenly appear, returning from hunting with hawks, or to hear the voice of an old Provençal troubadour. The fields seemed purple, the distances blue. And I brought back a study of it too, but it was well below what I’d wished to do."[4][11]

On 9 September 2013, the Van Gogh Museum announced in a public unveiling of the painting, that the work had been confirmed as a painting by van Gogh.[1][12]

## Reception

[edit]

Martin Bailey praised Sunset at Montmajour as "a major addition to [van Gogh's] oeuvre."[12]

## See also

[edit]

* List of works by Vincent van Gogh

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g "New Vincent Van Gogh painting identified". BBC News. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
2. ^ a b "Long-lost Van Gogh painting unveiled in Amsterdam". AFP. 9 September 2013. Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
3. ^ "New Van Gogh Painting Unveiled in Amsterdam". NY Times. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
4. ^ a b c "Newly discovered Van Gogh painting kept in attic for years". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
5. ^ Sapa-AFP (10 September 2013). "Long lost Van Gogh discovered". Sunday Times. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
6. ^ The painting bears Theo's inventory number: 180.
7. ^ "Van Gogh Museum discovers new painting by Vincent van Gogh: Sunset at Montmajour". Van Gogh Museum. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
8. ^ Siegal, Nina (9 September 2013). "A van Gogh's Trip From the Attic to the Museum". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
9. ^ Memmott, Mark (9 September 2013). "'New' Van Gogh Painting Identified; Was in a Norwegian Attic". NPR. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
10. ^ Siegal, Nina (9 September 2013). "Museum Identifies New Van Gogh Painting in Amsterdam". New York Times. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
11. ^ "Letter 636: To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Thursday, 5 July 1888". Vincent van Gogh: The Letters. Van Gogh Museum. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
12. ^ a b "Van Gogh's Sunset at Montmajour: 'a major addition to the oeuvre'". Daily Telegraph UK. 10 September 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2013.

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Sunset at Montmajour at Wikimedia Commons

* v
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Vincent van Gogh

General|

* Biography
* List of works
* List of drawings
* Chronology
* The Letters of Vincent van Gogh
* Health
* Auberge Ravoux
* Death
* Nazi looting of artworks by Vincent van Gogh
* Posthumous fame
* Cultural depictions
* Lost Arles sketchbook

Groups of
works|

* Early works (1881–82)
* Portraits (1881–1890)
* Peasant Character Studies (1881–1885)
* Van Gogh's family in his art (1881–1888)
* Sien (1882–83)
* Cottages (1883–1885)
* Water Mill at Gennep (1884)
* Still life paintings, Netherlands (1884–85)
* Old Church Tower at Nuenen (1884–85)
* Amsterdam (1885)
* Wheat Fields (1885–1890)
* Le Moulin de la Galette (1886)
* Still life paintings, Paris (1886–87)
* Montmartre (1886–87)
* Self portraits (1886–1889)
* Outskirts of Paris (1887)
* Asnières (1887)
* Seine (1887)
* Japonaiserie (1887)
* Sunflowers (1887–1889)
* Trees and Undergrowth (1887–1890)
* Copies by Vincent van Gogh (1887–1890)
* Langlois Bridge at Arles (1888)
* Saintes-Maries (1888)
* Boats du Rhône (1888)
* Décoration for the Yellow House (1888)
* The Roulin Family (1888–89)
* Hospital in Arles (1888–89)
* Flowering Orchards (1888–89)
* Almond Blossoms (1888–1890)
* Paintings of Children (1888–1890)
* The Wheat Field (1889)
* Reaper (1889)
* Olive Trees (1889)
* Wheat Fields (1889)
* Butterflies (1889–90)
* Saint-Paul Asylum, Saint-Rémy (1889–90)
* Auvers Double-squares and Squares (1890)
* Lost works by Vincent van Gogh
* Display at Les XX, 1890

Oil paintings|

| 1882|

* Beach at Scheveningen in Stormy Weather
* Girl in White in the Woods
* Lying Cow
* A Girl in the Street, Two Coaches in the Background

|

1883|

* Cows in the Meadow
* Farmhouses Among Trees
* Bulb Fields
* Landscape with a Church at Twilight
* Landscape with Dunes
* Footbridge across a Ditch
* Marshy Landscape
* A Wind-Beaten Tree
* Farm with Stacks of Peat
* Farmhouses in Loosduinen near The Hague at Twilight
* Three Figures near a Canal with Windmill

1884|

* Two Rats
* Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen
* The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen
* Landscape with Pollard Willows
* Cart with Black Ox
* Cart with Red and White Ox
* Lane in Autumn
* Water Mill at Opwetten
* Water Mill at Kollen
* Village at Sunset
* Avenue of Poplars in Autumn
* Avenue of Poplars at Sunset
* Head of an Old Farmer's Wife in a White Hat

1885|

* Still Life with Straw Hat
* The Potato Eaters
* Peasant Woman Digging
* Peasant Woman Digging Up Potatoes
* Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette

1886|

* Vase with Red Poppies
* Vase with White and Red Carnations
* The Kingfisher

1887|

* Poppy Flowers
* Wheat Field with a Lark
* View of Paris from Vincent's Room in the Rue Lepic
* Portrait of Père Tanguy
* A Woman Walking in a Garden
* Imperial Fritillaries in a Copper Vase
* Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin
* Red Cabbages and Garlic

1888|

* Madame Roulin and Her Baby
* Landscape with Snow
* La Mousmé
* The Zouave
* Still Life: Vase with Oleanders
* The Night Café
* The Yellow House
* Van Gogh's Chair
* Café Terrace at Night
* Starry Night Over the Rhône
* Portrait of the Artist's Mother
* Bedroom in Arles
* The Painter on the Road to Tarascon
* Les Alyscamps
* A Lane in the Public Garden at Arles
* Falling Autumn Leaves
* L'Arlésienne
* The Red Vineyard
* Memory of the Garden at Etten (Ladies of Arles)
* Les Arènes
* Interior of a Restaurant in Arles
* A Lane near Arles
* Arles: View from the Wheat Fields
* Sunset at Montmajour
* Farmhouse in Provence
* Orchard with Cypresses

1889|

* Valley with Ploughman Seen from Above
* View of Arles, Flowering Orchards
* Portrait of Doctor Rey
* Crab on its Back
* Two Crabs
* Irises
* Lilac Bush
* The Starry Night
* The Gardener
* Self-portrait (1889)
* Self-portrait without beard
* Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear
* A Meadow in the Mountains: Le Mas de Saint-Paul
* A Road at Saint-Remy with Female Figure
* Enclosed Field with Peasant
* Rain
* Cypresses
* Wheat Field with Cypresses
* Green Wheat Field with Cypress
* The Diggers
* The Ravine of the Peyroulets
* Ivy
* View of the Asylum and Chapel of Saint-Rémy
* The Large Plane Trees
* The Mulberry Tree

1890|

* The Siesta
* Road with Cypress and Star
* At Eternity's Gate
* Thatched Cottages and Houses
* Portrait of Dr. Gachet
* Doctor Gachet's Garden in Auvers
* Houses at Auvers
* White House at Night
* Landscape with a Carriage and a Train
* Girl in White
* The Church at Auvers
* Daubigny's Garden
* Farms near Auvers
* The Cows
* The Town Hall at Auvers
* Blossoming Chestnut Branches
* Peasant Woman Against a Background of Wheat
* Still Life: Vase with Pink Roses
* Portrait of Adeline Ravoux
* Plain near Auvers
* Wheatfield Under Thunderclouds
* Wheatfield with Crows
* Prisoners' Round (after Gustave Doré)
* Tree Roots
* Landscape at Auvers in the Rain
* Poppy Field

Watercolours|

* Boy Cutting Grass with a Sickle (1881)
* Meadows near Rijswijk and the Schenkweg (1882)
* The 'Laakmolen' near The Hague (1882)
* Church Pew with Worshippers (1882)
* Woman on Her Deathbed (1883)
* Landscape with Trees (1883)
* Peatery in Drenthe (1883)
* Landscape with Wheelbarrow (1883)
* Drawbridge in Nieuw-Amsterdam (1883)
* Breton Women (1888)
* Old Vineyard with Peasant Woman (1890)

Drawings|

* 87 Hackford Road (1873 or 1874)
* Marsh with Water Lilies (1881)
* Sorrow (1882)
* Portrait of a Man in a Top Hat (1882)
* Torso of Venus and a Landscape (1887)
* Head of a Girl (1888)

Museums|

* Van Gogh Museum
* Van Gogh House (Drenthe)
* Maison Van Gogh
* Kröller-Müller Museum
* Monastery of Saint-Paul de Mausole
* Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles

Portrayals|

* Vincent van Gogh (1886 painting)
* Portrait of Vincent van Gogh (1887)
* The Painter of Sunflowers (1888 painting)
* Lust for Life (1934 novel)
* Van Gogh (1948 film)
* Lust for Life (1956 film)
* Van Gogh (1956 opera)
* Vincent and Theo van Gogh (1963 statue)
* "Vincent" (1971 song)
* Vincent (1987 film)
* Vincent & Theo (1990 film)
* Vincent and Me (1990 film)
* Dreams (1990 film)
* Vincent (1990 opera)
* Van Gogh (1991 film)
* Vincent in Brixton (2003 play)
* The Yellow House (2007 film)
* "Vincent and the Doctor" (2010 TV episode)
* Loving Vincent (2017 film)
* At Eternity's Gate (2018 film)

Family|

* Theo van Gogh (brother)
* Wil van Gogh (sister)
* Cor van Gogh (brother)
* Johanna van Gogh-Bonger
* Andries Bonger
* Theo van Gogh (film director)
* Anton Mauve
* Johannes Stricker

Cataloguers|

* Jacob Baart de la Faille (1928 and 1970; "F")
* Jan Hulsker (1978, revised 1989; "JH")

Related|

* The Vincent Award
* Van Gogh immersive experience

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