More Van Goghs -- or maybe not

Forty artworks that may -- or may not -- have been made by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh are on view at the Breda Museum in Holland. The exhibition is the result of a research project conducted by the museum’s curator, Ron Dirven, to track down hundreds of the artist’s works said to have been dispersed at Breda’s flea market in 1902.

As the story goes, Van Gogh abandoned a huge cache of his work in 1885, when he left his family home in the village of Neunen. His mother moved to nearby Breda a few months later, taking several chests of her son’s work with her. But the chests ended up in the care of a carpenter who eventually gave them to a second-hand merchant. He, in turn, sold some of the artworks individually and got rid of the rest at the flea market.

Hundreds of possible Van Goghs have surfaced around Breda over the last century, but few have been validated by experts. Determined to put the matter to rest, Dirven has invited professionals and the public to consider the evidence and make a decision.

Suzanne Muchnic