Experts at a New York-based art data science firm believe a long-lost piece by Vincent van Gogh was sold at a garage sale in Minnesota and recently published a report about its investigation.

In a Jan. 28 news release, LMI Group International announced the publication of a 450-page report on a painting called “Elimar,” which it believes is a van Gogh original. 

The painting was bought at a Minnesota garage sale for $50 in 2016, and, according to The Wall Street Journal, it could be worth as much as $15 million.

Experts believe the painting was done while the artist was a patient of the Saint-Paul sanitarium in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence between May 1889 and May 1890. It was found with “E L I M A R” on the front of the canvas.

“Elimar” depicts a somber-looking man near the sea. (FOX 9/LMI Group)

Analysts also found that a strand of red hair was partially embedded in the corner of the painting, and scientists confirmed it belonged to a male. The painting also had a finish made of egg white, which van Gogh was known to have used.

Despite the stylistic similarities, the Van Gogh Museum has denied the painting’s connection to the famed Dutch artist. In February 2019, LMI Group received this statement from the museum: “We have carefully examined the material you supplied to us and are of the opinion, based on stylistic features, that your work … cannot be attributed to Vincent van Gogh.”

In a statement, LMI Group President Lawrence M. Shindell said his organization took a “data-based approach” to verifying the origin of the painting, and that it “represents a new standard of confidence for bringing to light unknown or forgotten works by important artists.”

Vincent van Gogh’s painting, “Self Portrait with a Straw Hat,” is displayed at “Vincent van Gogh: The Drawings” during a press preview at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 2005. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

“By integrating science and technology with traditional tools of connoisseurship, historical context, formal analysis, and provenance research, we aim both to expand and tailor the resources available for art authentication based on the unique properties of the works under our care,” Shindell said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Van Gogh Museum for comment.