By: Annie Wang
Vincent van Gogh is one of the world’s most well-known artists.
His paintings are known and loved for their honesty, bold colors, and beauty. Vincent van Gogh made paintings on both sides of his canvas when he was too low on money.
In his painting Head of a Peasant Woman, the back side had a secret hidden portrait of Van Gogh. This piece was found at the National Galleries of Scotland and was discovered when the impressionist’s work was X-rayed the piece before an exhibition.
“Lo and behold! We don’t see much of the peasant woman, but what we have is the lead white, the much heavier pigment he used for his face, showing up after the X-ray goes through the cardboard,” Lesley Stevenson, senior paintings conservator at the National Galleries of Scotland, told the Guardian.
“Moments like this are incredibly rare,” Frances Fowle, senior curator of French art said. Some experts that were at the museum believed that the materials used to cover the hidden painting was put on in the 20th century before the art was put on display. The portrait was hidden with a lot of layers of glue and cardboard.
Van Gogh has produced around 900 paintings during his lifetime, so there are probably more hidden paintings to be found. Lots of visitors come from all over the world to admire this special piece in the museum.
Links:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/07/x-rays-reveal-hidden-van-gogh-self-portrait/