A VINCENT Van Gogh painting discovered by Spanish tax inspectors has turned out to be a โterrible fakeโ.
Cypress, Sky and Country, which allegedly disappeared while on display Viennaโs Art History Museum in the early 1970s, was found in a deposit box in a bank.
But now the vice-director of Viennaโs Belvedere, Alfred Weidinger, has confirmed it is the work of an amateur, and that the original hangs in New Yorkโs Metropolitan Museum.
โIt is one of the worst fakes or, better yet, copies, that I have ever seen,โ he told Austrian daily Die Presse.
โAn amateur must have done it based on a calendar shot of the original.โ
The painting, measuring 35 by 32 cm, was painted in 1889.
Spanish daily El Mundo originally broke the story, claiming two experts had confirmed its authenticity, based on three seals of proof.
However, Weidinger argued the seals are merely more obvious proof that it is a fake.
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