Brooklyn man who bears uncanny resemblance to Van Gogh sparks internet commotion

By PIX11

NEW YORK (PIX11) - Vincent Van Gogh is considered by many to be an icon of the art world who captured beauty, emotion and color in all his masterpieces.

The post-Impressionist painter known for being a brilliant yet troubled genius, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 37 over a century ago.

Or did he?

Recently spotted on a Brooklyn-bound G-train was a straphanger whose resemblance to the late-painter is uncanny. It's almost scary.

The photo, snapped by a fellow rider who couldn't believe what she was looking at, found its way onto Reddit where it trended and had all of us questioning Van Gogh's real whereabouts.

"One of my friends texted me and was like 'dude, you're famous!'" Robert Reynolds, a dead ringer for the dead painter, told PIX11 News.
Reynolds, a native of North Carolina who is now an actor living in Brooklyn, was taken aback by his overnight celebrity status due to his apparent long lost twin.

Although surprised by the online attention, he is fully aware of his 19th century counterpart. "I get stopped walking down the street, I get stopped on the subway," he said.

"I was recently in a small bar in North Carolina and I saw a lady sitting at the bar taking my picture."

"She saw me notice her so she comes over and she's like 'excuse me I don't know if anyone's ever told you this but,' and then my friends all look at each other and we were like 'go ahead – yes, Little Richard?'"

The big question: how does one capitalize on sharing a face with an iconic dead painter?

"I thought about maybe doing some sort of YouTube series because that's kind of a huge thing right now," Reynolds said. "I'm just trying to get those sparks going in my mind."

The Brooklyn man even entertained a possible career in themed birthday parties.

"Well you know – all little kids want famous dead painters at their birthday parties," he joked.

And you better believe Reynolds will be first in line when the Van Gogh biopic gets made because you know its real when your own parents get confused.

"My parents had an argument on whether or not the painting was of me," he said. "My mom swore that it was and she said to my dad 'I gave birth to him I know what he looks like.'"

"He said 'this is not our son this is a famous painting!'"