A never-before-seen painting by Vincent van Gogh depicting an exhausted old man was first exhibited at the Amsterdam Museum.
The painting “Exhausted”, which Van Gogh painted at the beginning of his career in 1882, was hidden in the private collection of a Dutch family for more than a century. A small pencil drawing signed by Vincent shows an elderly worker in a vest, trousers and shoes sitting on a wooden chair with his arms around his head.
“The painting has never been seen before. It saw the world for the first time,” said Theo Medendorp, a researcher at the Van Gogh Museum.
Shortly after the painting was completed, Van Gogh made a similar drawing, which he liked best and which is now in the collection of the Van Gogh Museum called “Worn”. The collection also has a lithograph with a similar plot called “At the Gates of Eternity”.
The new painting will be temporarily exhibited in the museum until January 2, after which it will return to a private collection.