ANKARA (Sputnik) — Turkish police discovered an oil painting on Friday, presumably the masterpiece of the renowned Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh, in Tokat province in the country’s north, the Milliyet newspaper reported Saturday.
According to Milliyet, the local police found an advertisement about the sale of the painting on the Internet. Under the guise of a customer, the police contacted the man who had been selling the painting by Van Gogh and made an appointment with the vendor. Shortly after, the oil painting was discovered in the vendor’s car.
Tokat’ta bir Van Gogh: Ünlü ressamın kayıp tablosu polis operasyonuyla ele geçirildi http://t.co/U0NgFY7LNC pic.twitter.com/vyAgUnKOeg
— Diken (@DikenComTr) March 6, 2015
The back side of the painting had the inscription "Vincent Van Gogh The Hague 1882" and "Dalhem Museum, Orphan Man, Standing". Turkish police officers transferred it to Tokat's Gaziosmanpasa University for an expert examination, the newspaper said.
The preliminary expertise revealed that there was a low chance the painting was a copy, according to Milliyet.
Both the New York Metropolitan Museum and Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam have already been informed of the discovery by Turkish authorities.
