I’m not back on social media, but I wanted to share what I think is a cool “discovery” my wife and I made — a possible photograph of Vincent Van Gogh and his brother, Theo.

Now, before I start, let me tell you the “facts.” One, there are a number of confirmed photos of Theo, but only one of Vincent, taken when he was 19.

Vincent Willem Van Gogh, age 19

Theo Van Gogh

Vincent notoriously hated photography and photo portraits. He claimed to try to capture the essence of a person rather than the staid, photographic likeness. In truth, his self-portraits really looked nothing like him. He gave himself a narrower jawbone and a more aquiline nose. I can’t say why, other than in his portraits, he made himself look more like his beloved brother, and to my portraitist wife, like his hero, Paul Gauguin.

Compare Vincent’s selfie, below with the portrait done by his friend, John Russell.

Self-Portrait, Vincent Van Gogh

Portrait of Vincent Van Gogh, John Peter Russell

As a person with broad cheekbones (as Vincent had when photographed as a teen) I can tell you, you will never develop gaunt cheeks. Never. Ever. Russell captured Vincent’s jawline as it was: broad.

Now, there is a second photo of Vincent, however he is seated and facing away from the camera.

Here’s Vinny with a friend in 1886. Notice how he sits: shoulders pulled in to minimize his boxer’s build (again, according to my expert wife) and leaning forward in intensity and to reduce his size. It’s a move I’ve made a million times to keep people from being intimidated by my 100 kg (220 pound) size.

Here’s a portrait of Vincent painted by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. See the same pulled in shoulders and hunched forward posture? How we sit is how we almost always sit.

Portrait of Vincent Van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1887.

Vincent loved to give himself a hooked nose (like Gauguin’s) in his paintings. He didn’t have one. Here’s a self-portrait by Gauguin with Gauguin’s portrait of Vincent in profile on the wall behind him. No hooked nose on Vincent. Vincent still looked like he did at age 19.

Now, how about this controversial photograph I mentioned? Well, again, let me preface this by pointing out that I’ve been a photographer since 1970, and have studied photography and portraiture since I was 6, in 1964. I could be considered something of an expert in photographic analysis (as I was also a professional analyst for 31 years). Still, this is a complete guess from my wife and me (but one I’d bet on).

People looking for photos of Vincent are looking for people who look like his selfies. That’s the wrong move, since he didn’t really look like that.

Below is a photo taken by famous photographer Edmond Bénard in Paris in 1888. I don’t think Vincent wrote about this meeting in his letters to Theo, but he was in Paris during this time. And we know why he didn’t write about. Theo was with him!

Artists and Art Dealers in Paris, 1888, Edmond Bénard

Now, some have produced this photo and claimed it contains a photo of Vincent, pointing to the mustachioed gent sitting along the phi line to the right in the vest. I think they’re right, but also completely wrong. The man they point to isn’t Vincent. Vinny’s sitting in the row below him, second from the right!

Here’s the same photo, which I’ve labeled to be easier to parse. Man in the back, #1, is Vincent’s sometime friend, Paul Gauguin. Man #2 is the guy the people who found the photo said is Vincent. Let’s call him Rando Guy instead. That’s not Vincent.

Why did they think it was? Because man #3, sitting next to him, is none other than Andries Bonger, who was Theo’s brother-in-law. Theo’s wife is the one who made Vincent famous after he died, and Andries was her favorite brother. Next to Andries, however, man number 4, is Vincent! Notice that Andries has his hand on Vincent’s shoulder. They were a close-knit family. Andries’s sister dedicated her life to Vincent’s art after he and Theo died.

Now, I know, you’re thinking it doesn’t look like him. But scroll up and look at the portrait by the master, John Russell. Same dude. Same face. Same pouting mouth. Notice how Vincent sits in the chair. Same posture as the photo outside and in Lautrec’s painting.

See man #5 above Vincent, playfully (or affectionately) pulling his hair? That’s Theo! If you think Vincent Van Gogh would let anyone but Theo pull his hair, you are WRONG.

Here’s another photo of Theo taken around the same time.

Wow, if Maria and I are right, huh? I’ve not seen anyone who mentioned Theo or noticed that he pulling the man’s hair below him. But their faces are the same, the timing is right, and he and Vincent are sitting next to Theo’s future brother-in-law, during the time when Theo was wooing Johanna, his future wife, hardcore.

There is a photo of Vincent, we are convinced, and if so, it’s also the only known photo of Vincent and Theo and of Paul Gauguin. Still stoked.