General advice when purchasing a Van Gogh drawing
- Always check its condition out of the frame. If you have no opportunity to look at the drawing yourself, ask a specialist or a paper conservator to do this on your behalf. In addition, ask the dealer or auction house for a condition report. This service is usually free. Condition reports are available on the websites of the international auction houses such as Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonhams.
- Especially in the Dutch period Van Gogh used iron gall ink that may have corroded the paper. A chrome-logwood ink was often applied in the French period. This ink is rather fragile.
- Various drawings were made on inferior quality sketchbook papers.
- Pin- or tack holes on the corners of drawings are useful in telling fakes from genuine drawings. A fake sometimes gives itself away by the placement of the binding holes. Van Gogh was reasonably consistent in the way he pinned down a drawing to his drawing board, which is something forgers have overlooked.
- Van Gogh handled the carpenter’s pencil rather vigorously in the Hague period which may have damaged the paper.
- Be careful when buying an unrecorded Van Gogh drawing which has not been examined by the curator of the Van Gogh museum or an established Van Gogh scholar.
- Always check recent auction results before buying. (See: www.artnet.com or the free sold lots archives of the major auction houses.)
- Once bought avoid hanging the drawing in full light, avoid fluctuating temperatures and humidity, and use a glass that filters UV-light. If the drawing needs treatment, please choose a specialist paper conservator who knows about recent findings on Van Gogh’s use of drawing materials.
- Cf. www.icon.org.uk and www.icn.nl/en
Van Gogh’s letters
If you are interested in van Gogh drawings, you will certainly enjoy reading Van Gogh’s letters that were newly published in 2009. These letters are freely accessible via the Van Gogh Museum: http://vangoghletters.org/vg
You can also enjoy Van Gogh’s letters on your iPhone or iPod Touch with the Van Gogh Museum’s iPhone application “Yours, Vincent”. The application features many of Van Gogh’s works, video interviews with the museum’s experts and new picture galleries that showcase his art.
Available in English and Dutch.
