A British art historian believes he has tracked down a famous piece of furniture: the curved wooden bed featured in Vincent van Goghâs The Bedroom paintings, completed between 1888 and 1889. According to The Independent , the bed was reportedly donated to Dutch refugees in Boxmeer, Netherlands, after World War IIâand today, experts hope it might still be tucked away inside someoneâs home.
While conducting research for his new book, Studio of the South: Van Gogh in Provence , van Gogh expert Martin Bailey discovered a 1937 letter written by the artist's cousin, Vincent Willem, that provided clues to the bedâs whereabouts.
Purchased in 1888, the bed furnished van Goghâs bedroom in his Yellow House in Arles, France, which he briefly shared with fellow post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin. Van Gogh created three unique paintings of the space, all of which prominently featured the piece of furniture. After the artistâs 1890 suicide, the bed was given to his brotherâs widow, Jo, who later moved to Holland and brought the bed with her.
Several decades later, art enthusiasts wanted to convert the Yellow House into a museum, and Joâs nephew, Vincent Willem, received a request to borrow paintings. Vincent made an even better offer: He generously suggested that he give the museum the iconic bed.
This plan never came to fruition, as bombs destroyed the Yellow House during World War II. According to the AFP , Bailey tracked down Vincentâs son, Johan van Gogh, in 2015, and the 93-year-old told him that the bed had stood in his fatherâs home in Laren, Holland, until the warâs end. In 1945, it was donated to survivors in Boxmeer.
Bailey verified this tale by locating an old photo of the truck used to carry the bed from Laren to Boxmeer. Now, the art historian hopes to find the bed for himselfâthat is, if its later owners, unaware of their priceless possession, havenât given or thrown it away.
[h/t The Independent ]
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