A four-year multidisciplinary investigation has found that a Van Gogh painting purchased for less than $50 at a Minnesota garage sale in 2016 may be a long-lost masterpiece.
The artwork, titled Elimar, was analyzed by LMI Group International, a cultural heritage data analytics firm, which concluded that Van Gogh painted it while confined to a psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy, France, between 1889 and 1890.
A team of 20 specialists examined the painting using both traditional and advanced scientific techniques. Their research dates Elimar to 1889—just a year before Van Gogh’s death—and suggests the Dutch artist was inspired by Danish painter Michael Ancher’s portrait of a Skagen fisherman. In a letter to his brother Theo, Van Gogh mentioned that he wasn’t simply copying other artists’ works but “translating them into another language” using color and contrast.
Although the painting is unsigned, the word Elimar is inscribed on the fisherman’s sleeve—a name linked to Hans Christian Andersen’s novel The Two Baronesses. Analysis of the canvas texture, pigments, and even a hair embedded in the paint further deepened the investigation. While the hair was identified as belonging to a man, its degradation made it impossible to confirm a connection to Van Gogh’s family.
The Van Gogh Museum has yet to authenticate Elimar, but if confirmed, its value could exceed $15 million.
