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Creasy Spines

“Every crease is a story.”

Illustration of the kind of find described. We don't reproduce press photographs.
Drawing· 1880s

Van Gogh’s forgotten bookmark

By the Editors · As reported by The Art Newspaper, 25 June 2021

FoundAmsterdam, Netherlands

Tucked inside Histoire d’un Paysan

In 1883 Vincent van Gogh sent his friend Anthon van Rappard a copy of Histoire d’un Paysan, a novel of French peasant life by Erckmann and Chatrian. Inside, the Van Rappard family kept a narrow strip of paper bearing three small pencil sketches of peasants from autumn 1881. Its tall, thin shape led Van Gogh Museum researchers to conclude he had drawn it as a bookmark and left it in the book. The museum acquired the book and sketches in 2019 and first exhibited them in 2021.

This is our summary of a find reported in the press. For the full story, photographs and any updates, read the original report in The Art Newspaper.

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