Museum says art collector’s van Gogh piece is a fake: suit

A Dutch museum states a intended lengthy-shed van Gogh portray is a bogus, much to the chagrin of a noteworthy New York art collector who’s fighting the resolve in a new $300 million lawsuit.

Stuart Pivar — who started the New York Academy of Artwork with Andy Warhol in 1979 — claims he located the operate, which he thinks is Vincent van Gogh’s “Auvers, 1890” at a state auction in March.

Pivar has “every motive to consider [the painting] was an authentic work of art developed by Vincent van Gogh,” his Manhattan Supreme Courtroom lawsuit from Tuesday promises.

But the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam claimed it could not authenticate the piece in a resolve from Aug. 13, the accommodate suggests.

The 90-12 months-old plastic chemistry scientist and prolific artwork collector states the museum produced the “cursory” locating without having even looking at the do the job in person or conducting forensic screening on it — in spite of his repeated gives to ship it oversees, the courtroom papers allege.

“Defendant rejected the authenticity of the portray soon after nothing extra than a cursory review of electronic photographs emailed by plaintiff to defendant,” the match charges. “The portray would be one particular of van Gogh’s major paintings if certified as genuine by the defendant and … would have a existing reasonable market price of $300,000,000.”

“The basic tone and nature of the [museum’s] report … demonstrates that the defendant experienced decided that the portray was not authentic prior to analyzing the submissions presented by plaintiff and that defendant therefore turned down each and every choice obtainable to defendant to access a various summary,” the accommodate even more claims.

Head of Collections and Research Marije Vellekoop wrote an Aug. 13 letter to Pivar, that accompanied the museum’s report, professing that his piece in no way resembles a accurate van Gogh.

“We do not believe that an inspection … in our museum is necessary,” claimed the letter, a duplicate of which was integrated in the court papers.

“In our view, it is evidently very clear from the materials presented to us, that the painting ‘Auvers’ are unable to be attributed to Vincent van Gogh,” the letter continued.

“The turned down work is in our feeling stylistically, iconographically or technically … obviously far too considerably taken out from Van Gogh’s very own operate that research and further discussion is deemed pointless,” Vellekoop wrote.

The museum and Vellekoop, did not quickly return a request for comment.

Pivar was an art expert and near buddy of Jeffrey Epstein for many years in advance of he reduce ties with the convicted pedophile when criminal charges were being introduced in opposition to him for allegedly sexually assaulting numerous females.