Key points:
- A painting purchased for $50 at a flea market has been attributed to Vincent van Gogh by Lookout Mountain International (LMI).
- Experts dispute this attribution , claiming that the work is actually by Henning Elimar, a 20th-century Danish artist.
- The inscription "Elimar" would be a signature , and not the title of the painting, according to specialist Wouter van der Veen.
- LMI counterattacks by purchasing and analyzing another Elimar work ( Bridge and Stream ) to demonstrate that the Danish artist did not paint Elimar .
A painting purchased for $50 at a garage sale in the United States continues to spark controversy. Initially attributed to Vincent van Gogh by specialist firm Lookout Mountain International (LMI), the work's authenticity has been heavily contested by several experts. According to them, the painting is not by the famous Dutch artist, but rather by Henning Elimar, a 20th-century Danish painter who died in 1989.
A mystery surrounding a signature
The painting, called Elimar , depicts a fisherman smoking a pipe and is believed to have been painted in 1889, the same year as Starry Night . LMI claims that the work is by Van Gogh, but scholars including Wouter van der Veen, a former associate of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, dispute this attribution. They say the inscription "Elimar" at the bottom right of the painting is not its title, but rather the signature of the real artist: Henning Elimar.
LMI counterattacks to prove its attribution
Faced with these criticisms, LMI is not backing down and has just counterattacked by purchasing and analyzing what it claims to be one of the only two known works by Henning Elimar, entitled Bridge and Stream . Their goal is clear: to prove that the Danish painter's style does not correspond to that of the Elimar painting, and thus rule out the hypothesis that he was the author.
According to LMI, the technical analysis of Bridge and Stream shows significant differences with Elimar , in terms of color palette, painting technique and composition. The company believes that these differences are too great for the two works to have been made by the same artist.
However, art experts remain cautious about this approach. They point out that few of Henning Elimar's works are documented and that the study of a single painting is not enough to exclude an attribution. Some specialists are calling for an independent expert appraisal to analyse the painting in more depth and definitively settle the question.
A case still pending
The Elimar conundrum illustrates the difficulties of authenticating artworks. If LMI can prove its hypothesis, the painting could be worth millions of dollars. Conversely, if the experts are right, it would be a misattribution and simply a painting by a little-known artist.
Jean Dubreil