Van Gogh Authentication Study Uses Surface Texture to Separate Works From Forgeries
A new study suggests that the microscopic texture of a painting may help answer one of the art market’s most persistent questions: is it real? Researchers at the University Polytechnique Hauts-de-France tested surface metrology on eight paintings by Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890), using high-resolution images to build topographical maps and measure each work’s fractal dimension value, a numerical way of describing complexity.
The paper, published in Surface Topography: Metrology and Properties, examined both a representative brushstroke and the full composition for each painting. From those measurements, the team created a baseline of 16 fractal dimension values drawn from authenticated Van Gogh works made during his Dutch and French periods. They then applied the model to two disputed paintings.
One of them, Sunset at Montmajour (1888), aligned with the authenticated works and with the Van Gogh Museum’s 2013 validation of the painting. The other, The Plowmen, did not fit the pattern and was judged inconsistent with Van Gogh’s oeuvre. In the sample, 1889’s Starry Night produced the highest fractal dimension value, underscoring the range of textures within the artist’s late work.
Lead researcher Francois Berksman said in an email that surface metrology has long been used in industrial settings, where surface geometry is tied to manufacturing, friction, wear, and performance. Its use in art authentication remains relatively underexplored, which is part of what makes the study notable. The method is not without limits, including its inability to account for an artwork’s decomposition, but the researchers argue it could offer a less invasive and more affordable tool for authentication.
The team also compared Van Gogh’s results with eight works by Swedish painter David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl, whose smoother surfaces produced lower values. That contrast, the study notes, suggests the descriptor can distinguish different pictorial textures and techniques. As digital imaging and A.I. continue to reshape visual analysis, surface metrology may become one more instrument in the increasingly technical work of separating authorship from imitation.
