10 Sep 2013

New Van Gogh discovered

9:29 am on 10 September 2013

A previously unknown landscape painting by Vincent van Gogh has been identified by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Sunset at Montmajour - which depicts trees, bushes and sky - had spent years in a Norwegian private collector's attic after he had been told the work was not by the Dutch master.

The museum said the painting was authenticated by letters, style and the physical materials used.

It is the first full-size canvas by Van Gogh discovered since 1928, the BBC reports.

Museum director Axel Rueger called the discovery a "once-in-a-lifetime experience'' at an unveiling ceremony.

He said the institution had previously rejected the painting's authenticity in the 1990s partly because it was not signed.

However, thanks to new research techniques and a two-year investigation, it concluded the artwork was by the artist.