Fernand Cormon Vincent van Gogh From Raging Bulls to Miserable Drips Barnes to Unveil Design for New Philadelphia Home Authorities Recover Stolen Van Gogh Sketch Modern Art TV Show Wins an Emmy House Rules: 1989–1998 1979–1988

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The portraits — one depicting a woman wearing a hat, the other a lady folding her gloved hands — were suspected of being fakes, but a review of physical and historical evidence has shown that they were painted by Van Gogh in the spring of 1886 in Paris, when he was being mentored by the painter Fernand Cormon.

"The combined weight of all this evidence offers convincing grounds for the reattribution of these two female portraits to Van Gogh," said Natalie Bos, a spokesperson for the museum.

Bos said the authorship of the paintings was in doubt because the themes of the portraits were unusual for the artist. However, tests showed that the paint was the same type he used in other works during that time, that the frames were from his usual frame manufacturer, and that the artist made other canvases at the time in a similar style.