A secret incomplete painting by Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh has been recreated using artificial intelligence after 135 years after it was covered with a floral work titled "Still life with meadow flowers and roses."
The hidden portrait beneath the still life on display at the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands was unveiled by British scientists in 2012 using X-ray technology. It is also known that the artist mentioned an earlier painting featuring wrestlers in a letter sent in 1886 to his brother, Theo, in which he wrote: “This week I painted a large thing with two nude torsos – two wrestlers.”
Replicating Van Gogh's style and color usage, British scientists from University College London brought the incomplete painting to life through AI, spectroscopy and 3D printing technology. Neuroscientist Anthony Bourached, who led the work with physicist George Cann and artist Jesper Eriksson, said they developed an algorithm to try and work out what the original painting might look like based on Gogh's brushstrokes. Bourached told to the Telegraph: "How much it is like the original painting is impossible to tell at this point because the information doesn’t exist. I think it’s very convincing – by far the best guess we can get with current technology.”
This painting, which is thought to have been made while the artist was studying in Antwerp, was lost or ignored until it was discovered in 2012. Yet the reason why Van Gogh painted over "Two Wrestlers" is still unknown. Artists also have been known to reuse their canvases to save money or to hide work they are unhappy with. Earlier this year, a Van Gogh self-portrait was found hidden behind another at the National Gallery of Scotland.
On the other hand, an art historian at Sotheby's Institute of Art, New York, Emily L. Spratt sparked ethical concerns after the recreation, arguing that maybe Van Gogh didn't want the world to see the painting.
The recreation will be exhibited at the Louvre in early September.
