Unpublished documents that illuminate other lights on the life of Vincent Van Gogh, a brilliant and mysterious artist who still today enchants with his works experts and simple enthusiasts. They were buried under the floor of his London home and could tell us more about his life. And its extraordinary productions
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerous
Unpublished documents that illuminate other lights on the life of Vincent Van Gogh, a brilliant and mysterious artist who still today enchants with his works experts and simple enthusiasts. They were buried under the floor of his London home and could tell us more about his life.
An insurance contract, a prayer book printed in 1867 and some fragments of drawings never seen before: according to the words of Martin Bailey, expert on Van Gogh and curator of the exhibition 'Van Gogh and Britain', the discovery, carried out under the floor of the he home that belonged to the great painter, could help shed light on the artist's period in Brixton, now a southern district of London.
The owners of the house, Jian Wang and Alice Childs, uncovered the documents during the renovation of the three-story house in a dilapidated condition at the time of purchase in 2012.
Van Gogh moved into that house when he was 20 and worked as an assistant in an art gallery in Covent Garden. It is believed that he fell in love with Eugenie, the owner's 19-year-old daughter at the time, but there is actually no evidence of this.
However, the documents found turn on several lights: one is in fact an insurance contract, made out to the landlady of the time, Ursula Loyer, another is a battered copy of the prayer book 'A Penny Pocket Book of Prayers & Hymns' and the the other is a set of fragments of watercolor drawings.
The book, in particular, confirms that during that time Van Gogh became a fervent Catholic. The pamphlet was published by a publishing house on the same street as the gallery where Van Gogh worked. According to Bailey, it probably belonged to the landlady, but may have been read by the painter.
As for the watercolors, they do not look like they were painted by the great Dutch painter, but perhaps by Eugenie, which would add some clues to their connection. In fact, everything was found under the floorboards of the bedroom on the top floor, where Van Gogh slept. So everything, somehow, it belonged to him.
But it does not end there: there are also other very battered documents that the hosts have not deliberately tried to separate to avoid causing further damage (the intervention of the experts is awaited). Meanwhile, that everything was under the floorboards suggests that the artist had deliberately hidden them for safety, which suggests that they all had great importance to him.
The renovations are not yet finished. When everything is perfect, the hosts announce, the house will become "venue for artists' residences and exhibitions”, To allow artists to earn a living, what Van Gogh has never been able to do.
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Roberta de carolis
Foto: Martin Bailey/The Art Newspaper
