Van Gogh museum rejects $50 garage sale painting as fake, despite $15M claim
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A painting bought for just $50 at a Minnesota garage sale has caused a stir, with some claiming it is a lost Vincent van Gogh masterpiece. The painting, titled Elimar, depicts a fisherman smoking a pipe and was supposedly painted in 1889.
LMI Group International, which bought the painting in 2019, spent $30,000 on a detailed analysis. Their report, which spanned 458 pages, suggested the painting could be worth $15 million. They even found a human hair embedded in the paint, but DNA tests could not confirm its origin.
Despite this investigation, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam dismissed the painting as a fake. The museum reiterated their 2019 opinion, stating that Elimar did not meet the stylistic features of Van Gogh’s known works.
The museum’s rejection has not stopped the debate. While the Van Gogh Museum remains firm in its stance, Elimar continues to spark interest among art collectors and enthusiasts.
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