Bringing Van Gogh’s Vision to LEGO

LEGO has unveiled its latest artistic creation, the LEGO Art Vincent van Gogh – Sunflowers set, developed in partnership with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. This 2,615-piece collector’s item transforms Van Gogh’s 1889 masterpiece into a three-dimensional LEGO format, offering art enthusiasts and builders an immersive experience.

The set includes:

• Adjustable petals to recreate Van Gogh’s signature brushstrokes.
• A removable frame for display versatility.
• A tile featuring Van Gogh’s signature, adding an authentic touch.

Designed to capture the painting’s three radiant shades of yellow and dynamic light and shadow effects, this release pays homage to one of the world’s most famous still-life artworks.

An Interactive Experience for Collectors

To enhance the building process, LEGO has introduced an exclusive podcast, available from March 1, 2025, featuring insights from LEGO Designer Stijn Oom and Van Gogh Museum Senior Curator Nienke Bakker. The podcast will provide historical context and behind-the-scenes details on the creation of this set.

In celebration of the launch, LEGO has also crafted two life-sized brick-built replicas of Sunflowers, which will be permanently displayed at the LEGO Store in Amsterdam and the Van Gogh Museum. Additionally, fans will have the opportunity to meet Stijn Oom, who will be signing sets at:

• LEGO Store Amsterdam – March 1, 2025
• LEGO Store Marseille – March 2, 2025

Pre-Orders and Pricing Details

The LEGO Art Vincent van Gogh – Sunflowers set is available for pre-order from January 28, 2025, ahead of its official launch on March 1, 2025. The set is priced at $199.99 USD, making it a must-have for LEGO collectors and art lovers alike. The set also includes intricate texturing techniques to mimic Van Gogh’s expressive brushwork, offering builders a deeper connection to the masterpiece.

The post LEGO and Van Gogh Museum Unveil ‘Sunflowers’ Inspired Set appeared first on Magzoid Magazine.

The discovery was made by three Van Gogh Museum experts—Teio Meedendorp, Louis van Tilborgh, and Saskia van Oudheusden—who shared their findings in the latest edition of Burlington Magazine. These works were initially accepted as genuine in the 1970 catalogue raisonné compiled by Jacob-Baart de la Faille, but new investigations have cast doubt on their authenticity.

One of the fakes, Interior of a Restaurant, was thought to be a second version of Van Gogh’s Interior of the Grand Bouillon-Restaurant le Chalet, Paris (1887). However, upon closer inspection, experts noted the brushwork deviated from Van Gogh’s signature style, and the colors used—such as Manganese blue—weren’t consistent with the pigments available to the artist during the 1880s.

Further discrepancies emerged in the floral motifs.

The first painting depicted autumn begonias, while the questioned piece showed yellow sunflowers, which would have been out of season by late autumn, when the original was believed to be made.

The second case centers around Head of a Peasant Woman with Dark Cap, which came from the estate of part-time art dealer Gerbrand Visser. Despite its authentication in 2008, a reevaluation in 2019—spurred by the submission of a similar painting—showed it to be a forgery, created between 1902 and 1909. This period corresponds with when the original painting changed ownership and became part of a private collection.

Christie’s, which sold the painting for $993,250 in 2011, issued a statement in response to the discovery: “We take every measure to ensure the authentication of all works consigned for sale, including seeking expertise from the most eminent experts around the world. The work was authenticated in 2011, having been confirmed as a Van Gogh. As a matter of practice, we cannot comment any further on individual consignments.”

The final painting, Wood Gatherers in the Snow (1884), had been accepted as genuine for decades. Originally sold in 1957 by the Earl of Inchcape Kenneth Mackay, the watercolor was recently debunked in 2020. Specialists concluded that the forger worked from a photograph first published in 1904. The forgery missed several key details, including a long vertical stick used by Brabant peasants, which should have been present in the composition.

The revelations cast fresh scrutiny on previously authenticated works and highlight the challenges of confirming the authenticity of historical artworks.

The post Van Gogh Specialists Expose Three Forgeries in Private Collections appeared first on Magzoid Magazine.

The work, titled Study for Worn Out, is dated November 1882. It depicts an elderly male worker sitting on a wooden chair, hunched over with his face in his hands. Van Gogh made it as a preliminary sketch for his 1882 drawing of the same title during the early part of his career when he was working in The Hague.

“It’s quite rare for a new work to be attributed to Van Gogh,” the museum’s director Emilie Gordenker said in a statement. “We’re proud to be able to share this early drawing and its story with our visitors.”

The study belongs to a Dutch collector who was not named by the museum in its announcement. The owner approached the museum to have the work inspected for its attribution, and is loaning the work for display in Amsterdam until January 2022.

According to the van Gogh Museum, the artist detailed ideas that led him to make the final drawing—1882’s Worn Out, which is currently owned by the institution—in letters to his brother Theo and to his friend Anthon van Rappard.

In a statement, senior researcher Teio Meedendorp said that the technique used for the pencil and watercolor drawing aligns with other works on paper attributed to the Post-Impressionist master in the museum’s collection. Meedendorp said damage to the drawing’s corners also conforms to others in van Gogh’s oeuvre, given that the artist attached sheets of paper to the drawing board using pieces of starch, which caused wear. Gordenker said the drawing offers “an exceptional insight into this working process.”

The post Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum showcases the artist’s newly discovered painting appeared first on Magzoid Magazine.