Experimental scientific analysis has potentially discovered a long-lost painting by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). It was bought for $50 (£40) at a Minnesota garage sale, but if officially reattributed to the popular post-Impressionist artist, it could be worth upwards of $15 million (£12 million).

The artwork’s buyer began their search to identify the artist back in 2018, when they submitted an enquiry to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Much to their dismay, the museum refused to accept that Van Gogh was the artist “based on stylistic features”.

In 2019, the New York-based data science firm called LMI Group purchased the painting. By combining expert connoisseurship with newer scientific methods, the company claim Van Gogh is indeed the author. LMI Group believe it was made in 1889 and belongs to his well-known practice of reinterpreting work by other artists, in this instance Portrait of Niels Gaihede by the Danish artist Michael Ancher (1849-1927).

Maxwell L. Anderson, founder of LMI Group and former director of the Whitney Museum of American Art, believes “Elimar” can tell us about the artist’s psyche: “[Van Gogh] reimagines himself as an older, wiser man depicted against the serene palette-knife-sculptured sky and smooth expanse of the water, evoking Van Gogh’s lifelong personal interest with life at sea.”

Scientific analysis found that pigments in the paint could be dated back to the nineteenth century. A temporary glaze of egg-white was also discovered on the surface of the painting, a technique commonly used by van Gogh to protect his rolled canvases. Finally, experimental hand-writing comparison showed significant similarities between the “Elimar” inscription and Van Gogh’s other signed works.

During this period of close analysis, experts managed to identify a human hair embedded in the paint too. Whilst DNA analysis was not able to give an exact match, it did reveal that the hair belonged to a red headed man.

A lengthy report has been published online detailing the new findings, which cost over $30,000 to conduct. The Van Gogh Museum, however, has yet to make a statement on the case.