Travel ban for 'fragile' Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam said Thursday its version of “Sunflowers” will no longer be allowed to travel after restoration work showed it was in a “fragile” condition. The museum in the Dutch capital is one of only five in the world with a copy of Vincent van Gogh’s masterpiece, and it rarely goes abroad, with the last time being in 2014. But international experts involved in the restoration said that even that was too much for the 130-year-old painting, meaning that it will now “stay at home in Amsterdam”. “An important conclusion of the research is that the soil and paint layers are stable, but very sensitive to vibrations and changes in air humidity and temperature,” Van Gogh Museum director Axel Rueger said. “It is therefore important that the painting is moved as little as possible and in a stable climate. To avoid taking any risks, the museum has decided that it will no longer be possible to let Sunflowers travel.” The restoration found that the painting wa