A never-before-seen Vincent van Gogh drawing of an exhausted old man went on display at an Amsterdam museum on Thursday for the first time.

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“Study for ‘Worn Out'”, which van Gogh drew early in his career in 1882, has been hidden away in a Dutch family’s private collection for more than a century.

The small pencil drawing signed “Vincent”, depicts an elderly labourer dressed in a waistcoat, trousers, and boots, sitting on a wooden chair with his head in his hands.

Teio Meedendorp, senior researcher at the Van Gogh Museum said:

“This one has never been seen before anywhere. It’s the first time that this drawing is out in the open. It comes from a Dutch private collection where it has been for a very long time. And this the first time and occasion that the world is able to see it.”

Van Gogh made a similar drawing shortly afterward which he preferred, and which is currently in the Van Gogh museum’s collection under the title “Worn Out”.

A lithograph of a similar theme is also in its collection called “At Eternity’s Gate”.

The new drawing will be on temporary display at the museum until January 2 before returning to the private collection.

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