Van Gogh painting identified

A report from the BBC reveals that a new Van Gogh painting has been logged and catalogued.

Sunset at Montmajour - which depicts trees, bushes and sky - had spent years in a Norwegian private collector's attic after he had been told the work was not by the Dutch master.

But now the experts at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam have changed their minds.

The museum said the painting was authenticated by letters, style and the physical materials used.

It is the first full-size canvas by Van Gogh discovered since 1928.

Museum director Axel Rueger called the discovery a "once-in-a-lifetime experience'' at an unveiling ceremony.

He said the institution had previously rejected the painting's authenticity in the 1990s partly because it was not signed.

However thanks to new research techniques and a two-year investigation, it concluded the artwork was by the artist.

It also has provenance.  The piece can be dated to the exact day it was painted because the artist described it in a letter to his brother, Theo, saying he had painted it the previous day - on 4 July 1888.

Wonderful.  Now one can only speculate about what kind of money the painting is worth...