Vincent van Gogh’s Hidden “Triple Painting” Revealed

Uncovering a Hidden Work

New research and conservation efforts have revealed surprising layers beneath one of Vincent van Gogh’s early paintings. Conservators working on Poplars near Nuenen have shown that the canvas contains more than one version of the work underneath its surface. The discoveries reveal a Van Gogh triple painting that reflects changes he made over time.

Originally, in July 1884, Van Gogh painted a moonlit view of a Protestant church tower and graveyard in Nuenen, where he was living with his family. X-ray imaging now makes this original composition visible beneath the surface of the canvas.

Reuse and Revision

About a year later, the artist reused this canvas to paint an autumn landscape showing a row of poplars and three figures. Reusing canvases was a practical choice for Van Gogh, who often worked with limited resources. This second image formed the basis of what is now known as Poplars near Nuenen.

Further research suggests that Van Gogh continued reworking the painting into a third iteration by late 1886. Conservators identified pigments typical of the Paris period in parts of the composition, indicating later additions that brightened the work and aligned it more with the vibrant colors he was exploring at that time.

Exhibition and Research

This newly conserved version of Poplars near Nuenen has gone on display at the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam after four years of careful restoration and research. The work’s fragile, cracked paint surface and old varnish required detailed treatment, allowing the autumn landscape to appear more vivid than it has in decades.

The revelations about these underlying layers shed light on how Van Gogh worked and reused his material. The transformation from one painted scene to another and then again illustrates the evolution of his artistic concerns and the practical realities of nineteenth-century artistic practice.

Full article: The Art Newspaper