The man who cried ‘Van Gogh’ proved right after all When Dirk Hannema declared he had discovered a previously unknown Van Gogh painting in 1975, he became the laughing stock of the art world. The museum curator was well-known for his tall tales in the Dutch art community and was widely mocked for filling his personal collection with forgeries. “This discovery is not an attribution but an absolute certainty,” he assured his peers to guffaws. But 25 years after his death, Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum has said the notorious fantasist was right after all.

The man who cried ‘Van Gogh’ proved right after all

When Dirk Hannema declared he had discovered a previously unknown Van Gogh painting in 1975, he became the laughing stock of the art world.

The museum curator was well-known for his tall tales in the Dutch art community and was widely mocked for filling his personal collection with forgeries.

“This discovery is not an attribution but an absolute certainty,” he assured his peers to guffaws.

But 25 years after his death, Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum has said the notorious fantasist was right after all.