Painting from thrift store brings 30-000 at-auction

It is a pointillist painting by Johan Aarts (1871-1934), which means that the image is formed by dots of colour. It was recognized as a valuable art piece by an expert from the TV programme Tussen Kunst en Kitsch, where Laarman had shown the painting.

The work is "a delightful stop between Van Gogh and Mondriaan", as auctioneer Piet van Winden from NRC Veilingen puts it. The painting depicts a meadow with Leiden in the background, with the Hooglandse Kerk on the left and the Pieterskerk on the right.

Van Winden points out that in the Netherlands only a few artists had "a courtship" with pointillism, including Van Gogh, Toorop, Vijlbrief and Aarts. The painting style was developed by the French painter Georges Seurat in the eighties of the nineteenth century.

The work by Aarts was purchased by "an important Dutch collector", whose name Van Winden cannot disclose. He says the seller is happy with the sale results.

Source: ANP/NU.nl

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