The controversy surrounding the authenticity of Vincent Van Gogh's painting «Garden in Auvers» was lifted on June 25th 1999 when French museum officials announced that laboratory tests had proved it had been produced by the artist himself. A group of art historians, journalists and art collectors started a campaign concerning several works listed in Van Gogh's catalogue raisonné alleging that they firmly believed that these, including «Garden in Auvers» were fakes notably produced either by Dr Gachet, a close friend of the artist, or by Claude-Emile Schuffenecker, a painter from the Pont Aven school.
Such campaign prevented the sale of «Garden in Auvers» by the heirs of French banker Jean-Marc Vernes who had hoped it would fetch over US $ 9 million at auction.
Measuring 65 x 81,3 cm, this painting had been produced by Van Gogh a few days before his death in July 1890. The French Museums central laboratory conducted several severe tests before concluding that it had been effectively painted at the end of the 19th Century.
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