For the latest volume in the Van Gogh Museum’s series of collection catalogues, all seventy-two of the paintings held by the museum from the period 1888-90, have been extensively studied from both an art-historical and a technical perspective. This has generated fresh insights not only into the works in the Van Gogh Museum, but occasionally into paintings in other collections too.
Study of An Old Woman of Arles, for instance, has allowed the redating of another portrait, The Smoker from The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.
The popular consensus for many years was that this portrait was one of many that Vincent painted at the end of 1888. However, Senior Researcher Teio Meedendorp identified The Smoker as one of the eight studies that the artist made during his initial weeks in Arles. He outlines his findings in the Van Gogh Museum Article: When Did Van Gogh Paint The Smoker?
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