Rice professor reveals 'fake' van Gogh work to be real

Rice University Prof. Don Johnson (Jeff Fitlow / Rice University) Rice University Prof. Don Johnson (Jeff Fitlow / Rice University) Photo: Rice University Photo: Rice University Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Rice professor reveals 'fake' van Gogh work to be real 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

A Rice University professor's digital sleuthing has helped to authenticate a painting by Vincent van Gogh, to the delight of officials at a museum in Amsterdam that bears the artist's name.

The painting, long believed to be an imitation, was tucked away in an attic and later held in a private collection. Today, it has become a global cause célèbre with the help of Don Johnson, Rice University's J.S. Abercrombie Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

He and colleague Richard Johnson (no relation to Don), senior professor of engineering at Cornell University, have developed a computer program to analyze aspects of van Gogh and other paintings that can't be seen by the naked eye.

The professors have come up with a signal-processing algorithm that automatically counts the thread density in an artist's canvas from X-rays, according to Rice News Staff Writer Mike Williams. The professors' forensic investigations reveal previously unavailable details about the masters' raw materials.

An X-ray analysis of the canvas behind "Sunset at Montmajour" determined that it matched a similar canvas on a van Gogh painting - called The Rocks - at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Several art experts from the Van Gogh Museum traveled to Houston to examine the painting. Their exam, along with the findings from the X-ray analysis, led to the authentication of "Sunset at Montmajour."