With his ethereal palette, post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh captured the essence of emotions and depicted them through his canvas.
His paintings appear as though they are moving before your very eyes. Each stroke is a tinge of melancholy, a brush of nostalgia, a whisper from the past - the interpretation can vary.
Now, almost 126 years after the Dutch painter's death, experts have discovered a previously unknown sketchbook that contained multiple drawings.
French publisher Seuil announced Thursday, June 16 that van Gogh's newly discovered sketchbook will be published in November this year.
"This sketchbook was known only to the owners, myself and the publisher," says Bernard Comment, an official from Seuil. He describes the discovery as dazzling and stunning.
Comment says the artwork will be released under the name Vincent van Gogh. Le Brouillard d'Arles. In English, this means "The Fog of Arles."
Indeed, van Gogh had lived in the town of Arles in southern Provence, France in 1888 and 1889.
Comment, who had known of the book for a year, says that it contains more than 10 drawings. He says experts have already confirmed the authenticity of the works of art.
Seuil said the sketchbook will be released first in Europe: France, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands; the United States and Japan. It will be published in other countries at a later date.
The French publisher did not disclose any details about the sketchbook's origin or the expected price of publication. But further details will be released at the world press conference in Paris in the middle of November on the eve of the book's arrival in stores.
During his lifetime, van Gogh suffered from mental illness and alcoholism. He took his own life on July 29, 1890. He died poor and unknown.
Now, his paintings sell at auctions for tens of millions of dollars. Around 1,000 of his drawings are known to exist.
Unfortunately, some art experts say that van Gogh's often bright paintings are turning white.
For instance, his painting known as Bedroom in Arles shows a bedroom with a red blanket on a bed, but the red is slowly vanishing.
Now they know why. In March 2015, scientists discovered that some of the Dutch master's paintings contained a lot of a substance called plumbonacrite, which they say is to blame for what has happened to the colors. Plumbonacrite is one of the earliest-known synthetic-made paints.
Researchers believe that when red lead is exposed to light, it turns into plumbonacrite, which then reacts with carbon dioxide. This turns the paint's outer layer into a whitish-gray color.
