The painting has been identified as a van Gogh after `` extensive research , '' a museum says . `` A discovery of this magnitude has never before occurred , '' the Van Gogh Museum says . The picture is from 1888 , during a period considered by many to be the high point of his career . Van Gogh achieved little recognition as an artist during his lifetime , but his reputation blossomed in the years after his suicide at the age of 37 , following years of mental illness . It was painted in response to an invitation for him to paint at the Paris Salon and it shows the artist working on a canvas that he had just finished.
The painting has been identified as a van Gogh after `` extensive research , '' a museum says . `` A discovery of this magnitude has never before occurred , '' the Van Gogh Museum says . The picture is from 1888 , during a period considered by many to be the high point of his career . It was painted in response to an invitation for him to paint at the Paris Salon and it shows the artist working on a canvas that he had just finished.