Van Gogh was a proponent of the plein air method of painting, where an artist depicting the natural world paints outdoors.
Wikimedia CommonsVincent Vang Gogh , “ Orchard Trees ” 1889 .
Great whole kit and caboodle of fine art often hide secrets , but few are as odd as the real hopper discovered in aVincent Van Goghpainting .
Art curators at the Nelson - Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City , Mo. found the remains of a dead grasshopper embedded in the layers of paint in a Van Gogh painting , reportedThe Kansas City Star .
Wikimedia CommonsVincent Vang Gogh, “Orchard Trees” 1889.
The insect , miss its abdomen and thorax , was discovered on the canvas of Van Gogh ’s paintingOlive Trees , in the brown and green blusher in the head of the image .
The hopper was in all likelihood dead by the fourth dimension it found itself in Van Gogh ’s painting , as it did not disturb the paint around it .
Van Gogh was a proponent of the plein air method of house painting , where an creative person depicting the natural world paints outside in nature .
The Kansas City StarThe grasshopper in the painting.
“ Van Gogh worked out of doors in the elements,”saidJulián Zugazagoitia , the Nelson - Atkins Museum of Art director . “ And we know that he … parcel out with wind and dust , grass and trees , tent flap and grasshopper . ”
The artist even once said in a letter of the alphabet to his brother , “ I must have pick up a good hundred rainfly and more off the 4 canvases that you ’ll be get . ”
The Kansas City StarThe hopper in the painting .
The grasshopper ’s rude camouflage made it unmanageable to detect in the light-green and brown paint .
It was only discovered during a close study of the house painting as a part of an feat to create an on-line catalog of the 104 French painting and pastels at the museum .
Mary Schafer , the gallery ’s house painting curator who first spotted the insect said , “ It ’s not strange to find this kind of material in paint , but the hopper ’s discovery connects watcher with van Gogh ’s painting style , and the moment in which he made the work . ”
The grasshopper will be bequeath in the picture , leave a Modern easter egg in an awe-inspiring study of prowess .
Next , learn 11 things you did n’t know aboutVincent Van Gogh . Then , read about howVincenzo Peruggia’stheft of the Mona Lisa and made it into a chef-d’oeuvre .
