"A Van Gogh autumn landscape was painted on top of an entirely different scene of a church tower, according to conservators at Rotterdam's Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum. Then a year after painting Poplars near Nuenen above the church scene in November 1885, the artist extensively reworked the second picture, at the end of 1886, making this third image brighter and more in line with his later exuberant use of colour"
"The final version of goes on display tomorrow (7 February), after four years of research and conservation work. This was necessary because of the severely cracked and fragile paint surface and degraded varnish. The autumnal landscape now sings out in a way that it has not done for nearly a century. Conservator Erika Smeenk-Metz working on Poplars near Nuenen Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam"
The painting began life in July 1884 as a moonlit view of the Protestant old church tower and graveyard in Nuenen, where Van Gogh was living with his family. The church was being demolished and only the tower remained; Van Gogh made six surviving paintings of the scene. X-ray imaging reveals that Poplars near Nuenen was painted over that original church composition. In November 1885 Van Gogh painted an autumnal avenue with three figures over the church scene. At the end of 1886 he extensively reworked that second picture, producing a brighter version closer to his later exuberant use of colour. Four years of conservation and research addressed cracked paint and degraded varnish, restoring the autumnal landscape for display on 7 February.
Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
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