Friday, September 23, 2016

The Croquet Photo Virus Hits France

September 23, 2016
   Yesterday I got news of a newly discovered photo that shows Vincent van Gogh at a table, drinking, along with his Arles roommate Paul Gauguin and Emile Bernard, among others. Very few known photos of the adult van Gogh are known to exist, although I have seen one, in a book, that allegedly shows his back. The subject is sitting at an outdoor table (I'll post that photo tomorrow). This is all very exciting because the troubled painter left behind so few photos. This new photo was supposedly taken in Paris by Jules Antoine, an architect and amateur photographer, in December of 1887.

  When I accessed the photo, my heart sank.

 

The alleged photo of van Gogh (third from left) and Paul Gauguin (far right).

An auction house with the unlikely name of Romantic Agony offered the photo for sale with an estimate of $136,000-$170,000. However, the photo failed to sell. It didn't help that Bob McCubbin deemed the photo a hoax. I'm sorry, Bob had nothing to do with it, but a photo expert from the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam said it was not the famous Dutch painter.

Sound familiar?

"Art is anything you can get away with."
—Some artist who damn well knew what he was talking about


1 comment:

  1. Hi, Bob -Yes, The Photograph both Illustrates and Exemplifies this all Too Familiar story. But the larger problem here is Face Blindness. I now think that almost 60% of people can neither Recognize nor Remember a Face -especially in a Photographic Portrait -& I think it also has to do with the amount of Attention it takes to "take a good look" at the face of Any Particular Portrait Photograph, male or female. Most People in the Day-to-Day world aren't "geared" for much more "face time" beyond a glance -especially at a face Frozen by The Camera.. & recognizing someone in a slightly Different Pose (let alone different Clothes or at a different Age) -& in less than 6 seconds (even with the Closest, Long Known comparison Image) will say: "This Is Not (so-&-so)." But then there's The Folks who Do Recognize portrait Photographs. They usually have some Art Background -particularly Drawing. Maybe reading Terrain.. Focused Observation of Any Kind brings on good Facial Recognition ability. I know these kinds of activities make a Big Difference. -Thanks -Blue!

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