EVERYONE THINKS they know Vincent van Gogh until they see "The Potato Eaters" (pictured). Painted in the Netherlands in 1885, it is as far in tone as could be imagined from the blazing sunflowers of his later work in the south of France. Five members of a farming household huddle round the table, sharing a meal of potatoes and coffee. The mood is cramped, the colours mostly muted greens and browns. Outside the circle of lamplight the dark presses in. It was one of the few group scenes he painted, and nearly everyone who saw it in his lifetime hated it. Van Gogh told his sister that it was the best thing he’d ever done.

This autumn the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has made it the focus of an exhibition, under the rubric "Mistake or Masterpiece?" The title is a bit of a tease, but Bregje Gerritse, who curated the show, says viewers should take the question seriously. The painting is marred by errors: funny torsos, gazes that fail to meet. Some may be intentional, but Van Gogh acknowledged others were bloopers. Still, he thought his critics missed the point. With "The Potato Eaters" he was reaching for a new authenticity, an appreciation of misshapen beauty that refused to romanticise its subjects.