by Amineddoleh & Associates LLC | Oct 31, 2023 |
Good news, thrill-seekers! Here at Amineddoleh & Assoc., not only do we provide exquisite legal services for our clients, we also know where to find a good, real-life scare. Our secret? Follow the haunted art!
Read on for our recap of our firm’s top haunted art-themed blog posts. Then, book a ticket to see the haunted art in-person. No tricks here, each destination is a true, Halloween treat.
Witch Way to the Party?
In this recent blog post, our firm traveled to Asheville, NC to get a glimpse at America’s Largest Home – and one of the most haunted. Click the link for all the details on this spooky mansion, including its most famous ghost-in-residence. Not only that, this historic home has a strange room known as the Halloween Room for visitors to experience, plus its own secret connection to protecting American art from Nazi air-raids in WWII. As if that weren’t enough to encourage a click, this post also has dazzling photos of Asheville’s gorgeous fall foliage.
Biltmore House in Autumn. Image via R.L. Terry at Wikimedia Commons.
The Ghoulishly Gory Frescos in Rome’s Santo Stefano Rotondo
Ever see art so gory it incites a physical response? Click here for more info on this real-life syndrome, known as Stendhal Syndrome, in which grotesque art and cultural heritage causes viewers to have palpitations of the heart. For those wanting to experience the syndrome in real-life, look no further than Santo Stefano Rotondo in Rome. While most tourists on a Roman holiday select beautiful frescos at the Vatican, those who venture to Santo Stefano will see a different sort of religious art. Go for the scenes of torture, stay for the bloody depictions of senseless violence. Plan to go before lunch, or else risk spilling the contents of your own stomach at the foot of these cultural works.
Gory frescoes covering the walls of the church. Image courtesy of Leila Amineddoleh, used with permission.
Cursed Art, from Statues to Paintings
Anglophiles, unite! The National Gallery in London is home to one of the most famous paintings in the world. However, this work is not famous for its artistic qualities (though they are divine). Rather, The Rokeby Venus is better-known for its ability to cause viewers to lose their minds. Click here to read all about this painting’s astonishing – and potentially cursed – provenance. The strange stories behind The Rokeby Venus illustrate how all aspects of a work’s life – including whether or not it is cursed – create its provenance. No matter what your opinion is of The Rokeby Venus’ alleged curse, the documented history of strange occurrences attributed to its ownership has become an important part of the work’s provenance.
The slashed Rokeby Venus. Image via artinsociety.com.
Haunted Happenings: The Law of Ghosts and Home Sales
If the average Airbnb isn’t scary enough this season, consider visiting a house that’s actually haunted. More and more people are reporting ghosts in domestic settings – and not always friendly ones. Trouble ensues when the place the ghost calls home is up for sale. Lawyers may be faced with the question: is a ghostly presence a condition that must be disclosed prior to sale? Would a reasonable family purchase a house that comes with a frightening ghost? Read more here to discover the actual laws that govern when a family’s new home comes with an unexpected side of ghost.
Famous ghost photograph of the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, originally taken for Country Life (first published in December 1936).
Horrifying Provenance of Monster Manuscripts
This post provides two monstrous holiday destinations in one spooky swoop: ties to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein can be found in both New York City and Oxford, England. Online versions of Shelley’s copious notes and edits for the story can be found on The Shelley-Godwin Archive’s website through the New York Public Library. To pay a visit to the originals, travel to Oxford, where the original transcript are held as part of the Abinger Collection in the Bodleian Library. If that weren’t reason enough to visit Oxford this time of year, stop by Christ Church College for the Harry Potter-esque tour of the storied grounds. Glimpse the inspiration for the wizarding world’s tall towers and cavernous halls on the college campus. Who knows – wizards also might be walking the grounds, masked in their muggle clothes.
Illustration from the frontispiece of the 1831 revised edition of Frankenstein, published by Colburn and Bentley, London 1831.
The Cat’s Meow: Feline Art Lovers
Word on the street is that the husband of our firm’s founder is dressing as a cat for the second consecutive year this Halloween. While we can neither confirm nor deny the Halloween costumes of our firm’s families (or whether or not, in fact, the members of those families were given the freedom to select their own costumes, or if they were selected for them by their young daughters), click here for a post inspired by our culture’s love for cats in art. Thinking of dressing as a cat this year? As our founder’s husband may say, ‘tis the season!
On behalf of Amineddoleh & Associates, we wish you a safe and Happy Halloween this year!
by Amineddoleh & Associates LLC | Apr 22, 2023 |
Anyone who has been a student knows that the fastest way to capture someone’s attention in a noisy cafeteria is to start a food fight. Last summer and fall, something similar happened in the art world, as museums became the backdrop for messy protests. Now, after a short repose, the culprits are at it again. This time, the action is taking place in Italy, with the most recent attack on art having occurred on March 17th in Florence.
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy. Image via JoJan through Wikimedia Commons.
Wait, What’s Going On?
The targets are priceless pieces of art and cultural heritage. The culprits are climate activists from several distinct groups with the same singular message: pay attention to climate change. The settings are (formerly) peaceful, as in this last attack in Florence.
In Florence, climate activists disrupted an ordinary day by spraying paint over the outer walls of Palazzo Vecchio. That attack on cultural heritage comes on the heels of the destructive actions taken against artwork in museums around the globe. Soup, cake, ink, and even super glue have been haphazardly applied to the most famous works of art in museums’ prized collections within the past year.
Many of these attacks occurred last summer and fall. Then, around the New Year, there was a brief repose. Art world insiders were optimistic that this trend would stop entirely. Time Magazine reported earlier this year that one major group, Extinction Rebellion, had announced a shift away from flashy civil resistance tactics to gain support for their cause. Instead, the group stated their plan to devote energy to large-scale protests that do not break the law. If other climate change groups followed suit, this would mean a dramatic departure from the ink-splattering and soup-slinging tactics directed at fragile pieces of art and cultural heritage.
Unfortunately, a change in tactics does not seem to be the cards. Not only was the fear that these attacks would continue realized by the recent protest in Italy, a quick check-in with the notorious Just Stop Oil climate activist group – of art attack fame – confirmed their general intention to carry on with the practices of last year. The group, in response to Extinction Rebellion’s statement, promised to “escalate” their actions of civil resistance and public disruption. The group even threatened to begin slashing famous paintings – yikes!
First Rule of Fight Climate-Change Club: Talk as Much as You Can About Fight Climate-Change Club
Van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1888. On view at The National Gallery, London.
The purpose of these art attacks is to get people talking. One recent attack last November was from a group called Last Generation Austria, in protest of Austria’s reliance on fossil fuels. Two activists threw black liquid (presumably representing oil) at the delicate 1915 painting Death and Life (1915) by Gustav Klimt. One activist was promptly removed from the scene by security. The second succeeded in gluing his hand to the glass panel encasing Klimt’s valuable painting. This gluing action was a serious risk both to the safety of the dizzyingly priceless piece of cultural heritage behind the glass, and to the climate activist’s personal hand health. It seems the activist cared very much for climate change, but very little for his hand.
The above attack was likely inspired by the group that finds itself the major instigator of this global operation. Just Stop Oil (the O.G. art attack tribe of climate protestors) has been at this game since earlier last summer. The most publicized attack by Just Stop Oil featured a pair of activists throwing tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers. During the attack, two 21-year old activists leaped over the velvet ropes stationed in front of Van Gogh’s painting, removed their jackets to reveal matching “Just Stop Oil” t-shirts, and slapped soup onto the painting. Not only is this display of wanton disregard shocking, but it boggles the mind that the target of the soup-based attack was not a Warhol work!
The attack seems to be connected to another recent event of art vandalism that took place that same month in the National Gallery of Australia. That incident involved members of a different group, Stop Fossil Fuels, scribbling ink on Andy Warhol’s screen prints of soup cans. The similarities cannot be ignored, as they follow a similar attention-mongering logic. However, why Just Stop Oil applied soup to varnish, while Stop Fossil Fuels applied varnish to soup, is a total mystery.
The above examples are merely a sampling of the demonstrative protests that have occurred in major museums since the beginning of the summer. They all follow a similar pattern: either a defacing with food or liquid, or protestors gluing themselves to a frame or glass. The latter is an imitation of the form of “locking” protest, in which activists will chain themselves to a stationary object to make it more difficult to be removed by authorities.
Fortunately, it seems that the works involved were unharmed, since they are protected by glass and other protective casings applied by art conservators. In the case of Just Stop Oil and Sunflowers, it was publicly known that the tomato soup would not damage the painting (according to Emma Brown, the founder of Just Stop Oil). Brown asserts that her group’s motivation has never been to destroy art. Rather, it is to engage in a conversation about why damaged artwork incites rage, while news reports of climate change do not.
Andy Warhol, Campbell’s Soup Cans (1962). Image via AP News.
This is not an illogical question, when framed in the proper context. However, when news reports of food being thrown in national galleries are splayed across individual computer screens, the intentions of Just Stop Oil’s efforts are lost in the absurdity of the situation. Food throwing, it seems, is better left in the era of summer camp hijinks.
It seems that the message may have been lost on the public, and that the method of protest may be too radical. In this way, they may be ostracizing potential friends of the cause by turning them off with their flamboyant and messy displays of passion. This would result in the activists seeming to be more like vandals to be avoided, rather than potential friends to be admired.
In fact, these stunts create animosity with museums and the public. By using art to stage protests, museums are now heightening security, leading to a less personal experience at art institutions. Increased security measures and the temporary removal and cleaning of artworks is an added expense for our public institutions. After significant drops in revenue during COVID pandemic, the last thing museums need is to waste funds cleaning up after these messy stunts.
Iconoclasm and Art Vandalism
Just Stop Oil’s flashy protests are not the first instances of art vandalism, nor will they be the last, as art vandalism has a long history of activists using destruction to send a political message. Dr. Stacy Boldrick, author of Iconoclasm and the Museum, explores the history of iconoclasm, which she defines as “image-breaking.” Public perception of iconoclasm influences how the broken image enters a culture’s consciousness, which can result in an almost secondary, separate work of art that begins a life of its own. Even if the piece is restored to its original glory, photos of the work in its defaced form become famous symbols of a particular political movement.
An example of this is none other than the famous Rokeby Venus, and its slashing by suffragette Mary Richardson in protest of the oppression of women. Readers of the blog will recall our firm’s piece on work (for a refresher, click here), and its haunted provenance. The history of the work influenced newspapers of the time to claim Richardson was acting from psychosis induced by Venus’s beauty. Boldrick, on the other hand, makes an argument for Richardson as a legitimate defender of the rights of women, though one who took her message to the extreme. Setting Richardson’s mental state aside, the images of the slashed Rokeby Venus are nearly as impactful as the restored version. The photos of the slashed painting draw the eye toward the ostentatiousness of Venus’s body, framing the voluptuous woman in a context of forced femininity.
The slashed Rokeby Venus. Image via artinsociety.com
Another example of a defaced work sparking its own conversation occurred following artist Tony Shafrazi’s 1974 defacing of Picasso’s Guernica. Shafrazi strode up to Guernica and spray painted “KILL LIES ALL” across the piece, in protest of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Fortunately, the painting itself was protected by a heavy coat of varnish. Museum curators were able to quickly clean off the spray paint. Even so, the photos of the defaced work, prior to the cleaning, became political messages. Moreover, Shafrazi himself went on to use the fame garnered by his demonstration to fuel his own artistic career. He is currently still doing well as a successful gallery owner and art dealer in New York.
Shafrazi proves that images of defaced art can send a cultural message by spreading the agenda of the activist who vandalized the work. However, sending a message does not always result in actual change on an individual level. If activists truly desire to change public behavior, there are more effective ways to evoke such action – ways that do not involve defacing fragile, famous works of art. Additionally, museums themselves can take action to promote sustainable, collaborative conversations with activist groups, all while keeping the art safe (and away from tomato soup).
Special Exhibitions
The North Carolina Museum of Art put on an exhibition this past summer that would have appealed to Just Stop Oil’s team of activists, because the show featured artists whose work brings attention to the dangers of climate change. The show, Fault Lines: Art and the Environment, featured artists such as Willie Cole, who did a site-specific installation of a chandelier made entirely out of single-use plastic water bottles. Another artist, Richard Mosse, exhibited works that used infrared technology applied to aerial photographs of geological locations to raise awareness of issues such as deforestation. Featured works of Mosse included: Aluminum Refinery, Paraguay; Burnt Pantanal III; Juvencio’s Mine, Paraguay; and Subterranean Fire, Pantanal.
Richard Mosse, Girl From the North Country, 2015. Image via artsy.net.
Also shown in the exhibit were works created by sisters Margaret Wertheim and Christine Wertheim, whose whimsical crocheted coral reef draws attention to the devastating impact of climate change and plastic trash on the lives of coal reefs. The sisters also did an installation called The Midden, which was constructed of the trash the duo collected walking on the beach over a period of four years.
This writer, a visitor of the exhibit, was particularly influenced by the Wertheim’s trash collecting piece and by the plastic bottle chandelier by Cole. As the writer herself was sipping from a single-use plastic bottle, she was made aware of her personal impact on climate change as a visitor of the exhibit. The writer immediately vowed to use reusable water bottles from that moment on. She joined others on the way out of the exhibit in pledging to reduce all single-use plastics by dropping a recyclable token into the glass canister provided by the front door.
The purpose of the exhibit was to use video, photography, sculpture, and mixed-media works to offer new perspectives in addressing urgent environmental issues. The exhibit highlighted the consequences of inaction, while providing opportunities for patrons to take their own steps towards sustainable environmental stewardship and restoration. This resulted in a celebration of the creation, rather than the destruction, of art in its fullest capacity to send a message to society. By focusing on creation, patrons were encouraged to be part of a constructive solution to climate change alongside the artist activists who produced the pieces shown in the gallery. When asked how about the public response to the exhibit, Virginia Ambar, Assistant Director of Ticketing and Visitor Experience at NCMA said this: “Many people commented on how important it is to highlight our collective roles in affecting our environment and that the exhibit did that in ways that were both startling and beautiful.”
Museum Joint Statement
One way museums have been guarding themselves against art attacks has been to increase private security methods on museum grounds. These increased security measures have taken the form of additional guards, added cameras, and metal detectors – which all come with their own costs. Increasing security is a pricey endeavor, and not one that most museums have the budget for, particularly coming out of the hardships museums faced during the pandemic lockdowns.
Another option is for major public institutions to continue releasing joint statements concerning these matters. The International Council of Museums (ICOM) released a statement signed by over 90 museum leaders. Included among the high-profile supporters were figures from the Prado, the Guggenheim, the British Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The statement explains the precariousness of the art being targeted, and highlights the vulnerability of delicate works of art, even when they are protected behind glass. While the statement does not address the issues raised by climate change, it does draw a clear line in the sand to draw attention to the riskiness of targeting these fragile and irreplaceable treasures.
Climate protestors march through city centers, causing traffic delays. Image via juststopoil.org
It is a showing of museum solidarity against protests. Its impact is yet to be seen, but there is hope that the statement will have an impact on protestors. The breadth of the ICOM statement, combined with the released statement by the American Association of Museum Directors on the same topic, last year, might speak to the protestors in a way that results in fewer art attacks. Taken together, the statements serve to highlight the damage caused by targeting art and the vulnerability of objects used in protests, without casting judgment on the protestors’ message. Rather, these statements encourage compassion on a global scale. Being good stewards of art and advocates for the environment both involve recognizing ways to nurture our shared humanity.
Conclusion
Collaboration is a better way forward than flashy protests. The lifespan of a shocking protest is only that of the flash-in-the-pan clickbait headline. As such, the political messaging of Just Stop Oil continues to be lost in the noise of the internet. Moreover, the fact of the matter is that throwing food at art to send a message is not sustainable. The shock value wears off eventually. It also wastes food and paint, not to mention the environmental impact of cleaning up the destruction. Remember the Italian climate activists’ recent activity in Florence? Ironically, even their spray painting seems to have caused more environmental harm than good. Nardella, the mayor of Florence, reported that “more than 5,000 liters of water were consumed to clean up Palazzo Vecchio” following the destructive protest.
Art, on the other hand, is constantly reinventing itself in sustainable ways that are fresh and exciting. Because of art’s evolving nature, activists who choose to work with artists and museums in a constructive, rather than a destructive, way, have the potential to sustainably effect real social change.
It’s a framework for elevated discourse. It smells like progress, not tomato soup.
by Amineddoleh & Associates LLC | Jan 26, 2023 |
Madonna in concert in 2005. Credit: David Cushing, https://www.flickr.com/
Madonna, singer of “Vogue” fame, has been asked to negotiate a loan of an 1822 Jerome-Martin Langlois painting from her personal art collection. The mayor of Amiens requested that the singer loan the work to the Musée de Picardie in the French city. The painting was purchased by Madonna in 1989 at auction, around the time that the singer’s fourth studio album was released. Decades later, in 2015, a museum curator recognized the painting after Madonna was featured in an issue of the weekly publication Paris Match Magazine. The article included a photograph of the “Material Girl” in her home, with the painting visible in the background.
When the curator examined the subject matter of the painting in the photo – a small Cupid in flight dashing between Roman mythological figures Diana and Endymion – a match was made. The painting looked remarkably similar to a work once owned by the Musée de Picardie and thought to have been destroyed by World War I bombings. Further inquiry revealed that the painting once thought lost is very likely the work hanging in Madonna’s home.
Notably, the city of Amiens has not accused Madonna of any wrongdoing, and it is not demanding the restitution of the work. Rather, the city has requested a loan. Such a deal could be fortuitous for both Madonna and the city of Amiens. Madonna would keep the painting in her private collection following the loan, and Amiens could display the painting in its original glory. Moreover, Amiens would no doubt benefit from the added publicity of a loan from such an A-list celebrity. This would be particularly timely for the city, coincidentally gunning to be named the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2028. (Amiens, among other cities such as Brovmov in the Czech Republic and Skopje in North Macedonia, are on the most recent short list for the recognition).
Diana and Endymion, Jérôme-Martin Langlois, 1822, Credit: Public Domain
Madonna has yet to respond to the loan request. Her decision whether to accept or reject the offer to negotiate might be influenced (hopefully, positively) by certain outcomes of other high-profile celebrities who have faced ownership claims against artwork held in their personal collections.
Other Celebrities With Problematic Art
One path for some has been to return the work outright. As we discussed previously, Nicolas Cage returned a dinosaur skull he bought at auction once it was established that it had been illegally excavated. Another 80s icon, Boy George, was keen to return a contested piece to its claimant owner. In 2011, the stylish singer returned an icon to Cyprus, to later be reinstalled in the Church of St. Charalambos. The church’s bishop saw the icon in the background of a video interview filmed in Boy George’s home. He recognized the piece as one stolen from the church following Turkish invasion in 1974. Boy George’s graciousness in returning the piece is heartening (he went on record as “happy [to see] the icon going back to its original home.”
Another path forward for celebrities with problematic artwork is to negotiate in good faith with the claimants, in lieu of lengthy and costly litigation. Take, for example, a piece put up for auction by the stewards of the late Gianni Versace’s private art collection. In 2010, a painting that once hung in Versace’s Lake Como villa was consigned for auction at Sotheby’s in London. The listing, a portrait by Johann Zoffany entitled Portrait of Major George Maule caught the eyes of the direct descendants of the painting’s owner. The descendants contacted the Art Loss Register, who negotiated with Sotheby’s. After what was reported as an amicable mediation, the piece was pulled from auction. The work was returned to its original owners, who were “overjoyed” to be able to hang the painting from their own walls.
Van Gogh’s Vue de l’Asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Remy, gracing the catalog cover for the sale of Elizabeth Taylor’s collection (Credit: Christie’s LLC)
Negotiating has also proven to be a feasible and mutually beneficial option for the Andrew Llyod Webber Art Foundation. After the Foundation put up a Picasso for auction at Sotheby’s in London, heirs of a Jewish family claimed that the work was sold under duress to the Nazi Party by their ancestor. In 2010, the parties reached an agreement of undisclosed terms (and, as the painting is valued at over $60 million, a substantial award was likely given to the family). Following the negotiations, the family willingly relinquished all ownership claims of the work, and seemingly walked away content with their end of the bargain.
However, some celebrities – either with the budget for litigation or incredibly personal ties to the contested work at issue (or both) – are willing to fight in court. Elizabeth Taylor is one example. She defended herself in litigation after she was contacted about a piece in her personal art collection in 2004. The 1889 work, a Van Gogh painting entitled View of the Asylum and Chapel at Saint Remy, was sold at auction to the actress at Sotheby’s in London in 1963. Decades later, descendants of a Jewish woman named Margarete Mauthner claimed that the painting was rightfully theirs. They asserted that it had been sold by their ancestor under duress by Nazis. The Orkin family sought redress under the 1998 U.S. Holocaust Victims Act, but was barred from recovery due to the statute of limitations. The 9th Circuit upheld the lower court ruling that the Orkin family had missed their chance to claim ownership, and Elizabeth Taylor kept her painting in her L.A. residence.
Amiens, France. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Collections, licensed via pingnews
Madonna’s Next Steps
Taylor’s unwillingness to relinquish ownership stands in contrast to the negotiations and settlement offers made by Versace and Andrew Llyod Webber’s Art Foundation. The potential for high-profile art buyers to avoid litigation and to instead reach amicable agreements presents a cooperative path forward and an overall more sustainable approach. These types of mediations, which may include the return of the work, give power and voice to claimants, without demonizing buyers who may have been unaware of the work’s problematic provenance. (This is particularly important in the case of celebrity buyers, who often work through intermediaries.) This ensures that justice is served, and that past traumas are recognized, while promoting the preservation and enjoyment of cultural heritage for generations to come.
The humanizing impact of high-profile celebrities who publicly acknowledge original ownership of a problematic work cannot be understated. When celebrities use their platform to give voice to people whose voices have been silenced, they set in motion healing work in the practicum of art and cultural heritage. What will Madonna do, moving forward? Perhaps she will be inspired to accept the loan offer and cooperate amicably with the City of Amiens.
After all, in the agreement put forth by Amiens, Madonna can still “keep her baby.”
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by Amineddoleh & Associates LLC | Mar 22, 2021 |
A rarely seen painting by Vincent van Gogh will be auctioned at Sotheby’s in Paris later this week. It is an appropriate venue for the sale of the work that depicts the Moulin de la Galette, a historic windmill in the Montmartre district of Paris. The work had been held within a French family’s private collection for over a century, and it is expected to fetch close to $10 million. Before it reaches the auction block, the work has already traveled to Amsterdam and Hong Kong where it went on public display.
A perennial favorite of art lovers, Vincent van Gogh rose to great fame after his apparent suicide. His legacy was secured in large part thanks to the efforts of his sister-in-law Johanna Gezina van Gogh-Bonger, wife to his brother Theo. After Vincent’s death, his property passed to his younger brother. In turn, his brother passed to his property, including Vincent’s paintings and his correspondences to his wife. With no income and a child to feed, Johanna demonstrated a shrewd eye and a natural adeptness for managing her brother-in-law’s legacy, serving as art dealer, and promoting and caring for the works. Rather than simply sell works for the highest price, she made strategic donations to exhibitions to enhance the painter’s fame. In addition, she transcribed a Van Gogh family history by compiling and editing the brother’s correspondences. The publication of the letters helped spread the Romantic reputation of Vincent van Gogh as an emotional and suffering painter. Johanna played an important role in the artist’s legacy.
Keeping pace with the artist’s rising popularity, the value of Vincent van Gogh’s art rose dramatically decades after his death. Sales of his works through auction have broken records numerous times in the 1980s and the 1990s. Lawsuits concerning his works have made the news for decades now. Five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal of a man who sued Yale University as part of his bid to recover a $200 million van Gogh painting, The Night Café, from the institution. (The plaintiff alleged the painting was stolen from his family during the Russian Revolution; Yale has held the painting since 1961.) Only a few years earlier, the Supreme Court rejected another appeal seeking to divest actress Elizabeth Taylor of her van Gogh, View of the Asylum and Chapel at Saint-Remy, on the basis that a previous owner was coerced to sell the painting while fleeing Nazi Germany. With the values of the artist’s works in the millions, or even hundreds of millions of dollars, the stakes are high. Following these high-value ownership disputes, allegations of Nazi looting, and high-end forgery scandals, buyers are wise to complete due diligence prior to the acquisition of an artwork.
The painting for sale this month is recognized as one of van Gogh’s major works. The subject of the piece, the Moulin de la Galette, became popular during the 19th century for the brown bread it baked, which the windmill was later named after. As technology progressed to replace windmills, they became attractive tourist destinations for Parisians looking to enjoy a bucolic view amidst the urban landscape. The contrast between city and country clearly captured van Gogh’s attention, who began a series of works featuring the mill shortly after his arrival in Paris in 1887. Van Gogh was not the only artist inspired to capture its image; the windmill is featured in works by Pissarro, Utrillo, and in Renoir’s notable Bal du moulin de la Galette. Van Gogh’s rendition stands proudly among these works and has been featured in seven catalogues, although it has never been publicly exhibited—until now.
If you cannot make it to Paris, there are other ways to immerse yourself in van Gogh with the Van Gogh Experience in NYC this summer. This innovative exhibition uses 360º wall-sized projections to engage the viewer in van Gogh’s works from every angle. Similar versions of the exhibit can be found in many prominent cities across the country, including Los Angeles, Dallas, and Chicago. For an immersive experience that can be enjoyed from the comfort of home, fans might look to Loving Vincent, a 2017 movie depicted entirely in van Gogh’s signature painterly style. For a more conventional viewing, fans can turn to At Eternity’s Gate, a 2018 film for which Willem Dafoe received an Academy nomination for best actor based on his performance as van Gogh. And for purists, van Gogh’s most famous work, Starry Night, remains on permeant display at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.
Amineddoleh & Associates LLC has previously worked with a well-known international collector to assist in the authentication of a van Gogh work in his collection. Through this process, we have corresponded with the Van Gogh Museum, and collaborated with provenance investigators and forensic scientists. We continue working with experts to authenticate our clients’ collections or assist them with due diligence prior to a purchase.
