The Perception of Poppies

"Van Gogh Maybe" - Carly Rae Jepsen



The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut recently received a priceless gift. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam authenticated a painting in the Wadsworth’s collection, Vase With Poppies, as a work by Vincent Van Gogh.

The Wadsworth removed the painting from display when its authenticity was questioned in the early 1990’s. The painting has remained in storage ever since, probably in the same warehouse from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Now, presumably, the painting will never again go off display, except to travel to Van Gogh exhibits or for restoration.

Is the painting great because it is a great painting, or because it came from the hand and mind of Vincent Van Gogh?

I think it’s worthy of display on its own merits, but Museums only have so much space and Van Gogh brings the traffic. As Alec Baldwin once said, “It’s a tough racket."

"Chagall is for closers."


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