Hidden Treasure

For weeks, Dutch art lovers have been quietly celebrating the 100th anniversary of Vincent van Gogh without causing much of a stir in the world's art circles. But last week one of the big exhibitions produced the kind of unexpected treasure-trove that always sets the experts to buzzing.

The discovery came in Amsterdam, where nine wise-eyes were examining a display of 19th century paintings once owned by Van Gogh's younger brother, Theo. Among them were 15 works by "unknown" artists, and one of them in particular caught the scholars' attention. A small (16 in. by 12 in.) portrait of a frock-coated man, it had never been shown before, and was strangely reminiscent of Van Gogh's Portrait of an Actor, painted in 1888. The subject seemed to be the same man, and was painted in somewhat the same manner, with heavy contours outlining the face.

But there were differences. Van Gogh had shown his actor full-face against a solid green background; the new one was a softer painting, a profile set off by gay bands of yellow, green and blue. The experts' decision: Vincent Van Gogh had indeed influenced the painter of the second Actor: it was a hitherto undiscovered work by his equally famed colleague and onetime friend, Paul Gauguin.

The painting was probably done in 1888, the year Van Gogh tried to start a community of artists in the yellow house at Aries. Gauguin was the only one who came. The two sold little, lived on brother Theo's charity, painted furiously and fought like tomcats. The experiment ended in the epic row during which Van Gogh sliced off one of his ears in a moment of manic depression. But not, said Amsterdam's experts, before the two wild geniuses had sat down together and painted the same man.

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