In 1975, Dirk Hannema (1895-1984), the former director of the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam and a loving art collector, bought a painting of a mill scene from Hein Art Dealers in Paris. Relying on his knowhow and intuition, he attributed the painting to Vincent van Gogh and estimated it to have been made in the year 1886.
However, due to Hannema’s dubious reputation in the field of attribution (Hannema was responsible for the purchase of The Supper at Emmaus, attributed to Vermeer, but painted by the forger Van Meegeren), people dit not pay attention to his intuitive remarks. The painting ended up against a wall in Museum de Fundatie in the small Dutch town of Zwolle and wasn't looked after for decades.
But now, exactly 35 years after his purchase, Hannema has finally been proven right. Recent research by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has demonstrated that the painting can be attributed to Van Gogh. The canvas, the paint used, the size and use of colour give convincing evidence. On top of that, Van Gogh painted that mill, a famous landmark of Montmartre, several times. He stayed in Paris in 1886-1887 , his brother Theo having a flat in the neighbourhood.
Exhibition: The Discovery - Vincent van Gogh’s The ‘Le Blute-fin’ Mill in the collection of Museum de Fundatie, 25 February to 4 July 2010, www.museumdefundatie.nl. More information in English can be downloaded through this link.
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