Australian gallery admits painting not by Van Gogh

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2007

MELBOURNE (AFP) — A portrait attributed to Vincent van Gogh and valued at 15 million US dollars is not, after all, by the Dutch master, a major Australian art gallery admitted Friday.

The National Gallery of Victoria said a specialist team in Amsterdam which carried out tests on the work, Head Of A Man, had concluded it was not by Van Gogh.

The painting had been on display in the gallery for 60 years before British experts raised doubts last year about its authenticity.

Gallery director Gerard Vaughan, who had conceded at the time that it would be virtually worthless if proved to be a fake, insisted it was not a forgery.

"It is very important to make the point that it's not a forgery," Vaughan said. "There is no evidence to suggest that someone...