Little Seen Van Gogh Painting Fetches 16.9 Million Pounds at Auction

A Sotheby's auction in early February reached a record amount in part due to a Van Gogh painting which fetched 16.9 million pounds, reports Bloomberg.  The Van Gogh was the second most expensive painting of the London auction, which raked in a grand total of 169.5 million pounds (US $266.8 million.)

The first most expensive painting of the evening was "Boulevard Montmartre" by Camille Pissarro.  It was estimated to go at 10 million pounds but when the hammer fell the price was 19 million pounds.  About 60% of the auction pieces went for prices higher than Sotheby's estimate, which indicates that the world art market is coming back strong.

Van Gogh's "The Man Is At Sea (L’Homme Est en Mer)" was estimated to bring in a mere 8 million pounds.  This is the canvas' second time at Sotheby's.  In 1989, it was sold in the New York branch of Sotheby's for a piddling $7.15 million. Things get a little muddied as to the painting's history after 1989. According to Sotheby's, it was bought by an anonymous art consigner in 1993 and sold to Holocaust survivor and art dealer Jan Krugier.  Krugier died in 2008 but his extensive art collection did not go on sale until this year.

Van Gogh painted the woman and baby at home waiting for Daddy in front of the hearth while he was an inmate at the asylum in Saint-Remy, France in 1889, about a year before the artist's death.  Van Gogh's paintings were considered worthless in his lifetime.  The first owner of the painting was Dr. Paul Gachet, Vincent's final therapist and one of his models.  It has had several wealthy owners after the good doctor's family sold the painting in the early 1900s.  It was last exhibited publicly in Paris in 1905.

Painting Focus: "Pieta (After Delacroix)"; By Van Gogh, 1889

What is a Pieta? It's an artistic scene depicting the Virgin Mary sorrowfully receiving the body of her son, the crucified Jesus. It's a subject popular in Western civilization in the last two thousand years, even after the Catholic Church stopped bankrolling many major artists. One of the most famous Pietas in modern history is done by the enigmatic Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890).

Van Gogh could rarely afford models, so he often copied existing artwork in order to paint. His Pieta is a copy of a lithograph he had done by Nanteuil. This lithograph was a copy of a Pieta done by acclaimed French Romantic artist Eugene Delacroix (1798 - 1863.) This is not a faithful copy but Delacroix's painting done in Van Gogh's vibrant, Impressionist style.

Differences

Although there are similarities in figure shapes, positioning and theme, there are many differences between the original Delacroix and Van Gogh's version. Delacroix renders a typical religious painting, where the central characters are unmistakably more than human. Jesus seems to hold himself up despite being dead while Mary's blue dress and red cloak flow dramatically. The way Mary's clothes flow suggests that a strong wind is blowing, but nothing else in the painting, such as Jesus' hair, moves.
Van Gogh's figures are much more human. Both Mary and Jesus have the same skin coloration. Van Gogh put his paint on the canvas in very heavy layers. Coupled with brighter colors and a lack of red, the figures seem slightly squiggly. This slightly distorted image may have been inspired by visual disturbances Van Gogh is thought to have experienced. Whether that cause was a seizure disorder or migraine aura is unknown.

Accidental Art

Van Gogh decided to try his hand at Delacroix's Pieta after his lithograph became damaged. It fell into a patch of bright oil paint that Van Gogh could not remove. This caused a huge bright round patch near Mary's head. This damaged copy was kept by the Van Gogh family and still exists.

This was painted in 1889, when the artist had less than one year to live. This year was also his most productive and included some of his most beloved works. After years of struggling to achieve his own painting style which was considered ugly at the time, Van Gogh had finally mastered it.

Additional Resources

Van Gogh. Rene Huyghe. Crown Publishers; 1967.

Dear Theo: The Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh. Irving Stone & Jean Stone, editors. Plume; 1995.

Painting Focus: Vase with Gladioli and China Asters, 1886

Today, a painting by Vincent Van Gogh is worth millions of dollars. But when Van Gogh lived, he could barely afford to eat and rarely could afford to hire models. Although he wrote often to his brother Theo about his wish to paint people, he rarely was able to. So Van Gogh was forced to improvise by painting whatever objects were available, including a simple vase filled with gladioli flowers.

Van Gogh painted many varieties of flowers. His best known flower works are his bright series of sunflower paintings. Van Gogh's "Vase with Gladiloi" (1886) is an often overlooked masterpiece in interpreting still life to canvas. Van Gogh did several pieces including gladioli flowers in the summer of 1886, but this is arguably the best in the series. It now hangs in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The painting is also called "Vase with Gladioli and Chinese Asters", F248a and several others that I'm sure I forgot to mention here.

Van Gogh's Style

Van Gogh is an artist that's either loved or hated. Van Gogh did receive some art instruction, but mostly was a self-taught artist. Critics point out his blocky, borderline cartoonish figures, including those of flowers. Van Gogh used a swirling quality with his colors, laying them sometimes directly next to each other instead of blending them in. "Vase with Gladioli" shows how thickly he laid the expensive oil paints onto his canvass.
Because Van Gogh used paint in such thick layers, we are able to see how long his brushstrokes were and sometimes the actual tiny lines of the brush itself. This is especially noticeable in the vase itself and sprig of gladioli laying nest to the vase. When viewed at a slight distance of a few feet, the colors and brushstrokes do blend to make a solid picture. But seeing the actual brushstrokes gives a personal touch, as if Van Gogh is not afraid for us to see how he works. This makes his work approachable because of this human touch.

Van Gogh's Palette

Most of Van Gogh's flower paintings are done with one predominating color or colors that closely resemble each other. His sunflower series are in mostly bright earth tones, for example. "Vase with Gladioli" is different in that there are a variety of colors used. The background and most of the vase is dark, while the flowers themselves are bright green, yellow, red and white. The red is quite dark, which helps to balance the dark and light colors.

The vase itself is quite interesting, although it is dominated by the gladioli. It may have been an old tin can that perhaps at one time held Van Gogh's brushes. It is smeared with odd splotches of colors, suggesting that Van Gogh may have used it as a substitute palette at one point.

Painting Focus: Siesta or Noon: Rest from Work (1890)

Although best known for his feverishly colored landscapes, Vincent Van Gogh (1853 – 1890) preferred to paint people. Paying for models was a challenge to the impoverished painter, as he would constantly complain in letters to his only lifelong friend, his brother Theo. One painting featuring not just one but two people is “The Siesta”, a large oil painting based on Jean-Francois Millet’s “La Sieste.”

Van Gogh did not formally name the painting, so it is listed in art books and art websites under different names such as “Noon: Rest From Work” and “Noon Rest.” The painting now resides at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. Considered worthless when it was first painted, it is now priceless.

Painting Particulars
In the painting, two peasants nap against a haystack during the hottest part of the day. The woman is lying on her side, her head curved down so her features are completely hidden. The man is lying on his back, his hands behind his head. His hat covers his face. The worker's shoes are off, resting next to a pair of sickles. Because the faces are hidden, the peasants could represent anyone.
"The Siesta" was completed in January 1890, about 11 months before the painter's tragic death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Van Gogh copied the Millet painting because of his lack of money for models while he was a patient at the St. Remy de Provence asylum in France. Van Gogh would produce 142 paintings in this time as he mastered his unique and distinctive style.

Not Exactly a Copy

Van Gogh would copy several of Millet's works while staying at St. Remy. Millet was one of Van Gogh's favorite artists. But instead of slavishly copying Millet stroke for stroke or even color for color, Van Gogh created fresh new works of art.

Millet's original is darker than Van Gogh's. Colors smoothly blend into each other. The brightest spots are within a shaft of light shining down on the napping pair of peasants napping against a hay pile. The livestock grazing in the background are difficult to see. In Van Gogh's work, the entire painting is bathed in the light peculiar to Southern France. The draught animal in the back is bright pinto in color. The sky, the wheat pile, the animal and the peasants are all filled with swirls of color, making them appear made of the same stuff.

Rarely Seen Van Gogh Painting on Display in Washington

Can you get to Washington, D.C.?  If you can, give yourself a big treat and check out the National Gallery.  In particular, you want to look for a painting that hasn't been seen in public since 1966 -- Vincent Van Gogh's “Green Wheat Fields, Auvers,” (1890.)  The Gallery also has eight other Van Goghs and lots of other visual goodies as well.

Although a calmer, less "busy" work than Van Gogh's best known paintings, this is still a subtly complex and pleasingly bright work.  Although some critics say that it reflected Van Gogh's more calmer state of mind, I have to disagree.  Although the fields of young wheat are happy and lively, the clouds above are not.  They are in the same swirling, turbulent patterns as seen in works like "The Starry Night."

So, where was this painting from 1966? In the home of superrich snob Paul Mellon.  Mellon died in 1980 and his wife in 1999, but his family clung onto the painting since then.  Hung over the fireplace.  The Mellons owned it since 1955 and loaned it to a museum once in 1966.  Before that, it was last shown in 1912 in Cologne, Germany.  The painting will now have a permanent new home where it belongs -- for the public to appreciate.  The chances of the painting being loaned to other museums around the world is possible, but no plans have been announced.

Painting Focus: Portrait of Patience Escalier (1888)

One of Vincent Van Gogh's best-loved portraits is that of an old gardener named Patience Escalier.  There are at least three versions (one drawing and two paintings) but the image on the left is the best known version.

In the summer of 1888, struggling artist Vincent Van Gogh dreamt of starting an artist’s colony where he lived in Arles, France. He’d managed to persuade one artist, Paul Gauguin, to join him. However, Gauguin had yet to arrive. In order to help entice artists to the area, Van Gogh painted many portraits of the inspiring local people he came across. Because of his poverty and strange ways, it was very difficult for him to get a hold of models...

Please read the rest of my article at Helium.  Thanks!
(Link has now been fixed.)

Other paintings in my Painting Focus series include:

• Pieta (After Delacroix)
• Siesta or Rest at Noon
• Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin

Painting Focus: Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin

Yup -- here's another article I wrote for Helium.com about a famous Van Gogh painting.  Helium comes up with it's own titles that (unfortunately) we mere writers cannot change -- even if the title contains a misspelling or factual error.  This time around, Helium states that the portraits of the postman Joseph Roulin were done in 1889.  They were actually done in 1888.  Any other errors in the text body (like the misspelling of Daumier's name) are my fault.

Please read my article at Helium about Vincent's portraits of Joseph Roulin.  Thanks!

Painting Focus: Cornfield with Cypresses, 1889

"I put my heart and soul into my work, and I have lost my mind in the process.” - Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh (1853 to 1890) went through several styles before settling on his trademark thick applications of vibrant colors. By July of 1889, he had less than one year to live. He also produced some of his best-known works, including one his most distinctive landscapes, “Cornfield with Cypresses.” Once considered worthless, this priceless work can be seen in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art ....

Please read the rest of my article at Helium.  Thanks! (Link has now been fixed. )

Painting Focus: Irises (1889)

"How well he understood the exquisite nature of flowers!” – Octave Mirbeau, first owner of “Irises”

It’s one of the most recognizable – and expensive – paintings in the world. It was one of the very few works that received critical praise during Vincent Van Gogh’s brief but tortured life. It’s known simply as “Irises.” It was painted in 1889 while Van Gogh was recuperating at an asylum at Saint-Remy in Southern France.  The flowers grew in the asylum's garden.

Such an iconic image seems almost commonplace today, but back in 1889 it was a whole new way of looking at the world. What were Van Gogh's inspirations? There were many, which he somehow distilled the essence of each and brought it to this particular canvass. Here is a look at some of them.

Japanese Woodcuts

Japanese art and fashion became faddishly popular in mid-1800s France and Belgium. It was still popular during Van Gogh's ten-year career as an artist. He also collected Japanese woodcut prints and even tried his hand at copying a few. Prints made from Japanese woodcuts have clear, bright colors and flowing, curving forms making people, animals, buildings, boats and nature as essentially the same stuff.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Although many art history books claim Japanese woodcuts were Van Gogh's major inspiration, there also seems to have been some influence by Van Gogh's contemporary, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864 - 1901.) He was also influenced by Japanese art. Among his best-known works were vibrant posters that used a limited palette of bright colors and curving, sensuous lines. Both artists briefly knew each other when both lived in Paris in 1886. Van Gogh was very familiar with Toulouse-Lautrec's work.

The Irises Themselves

The point of view of "Irises" is much different than flower studies done in the past - even flower studies done by Vincent. Usually they were of a garden or selected flowers arranged in a vase. But this time the viewpoint is right down at the level of the irises. Each flower and leaf bends and if carrying a heavy burden and yet springs up resiliently. By this time, Van Gogh had abandoned religion and used nature and art to fill the gap. The power of nature is certainly apparent in the lush green leaves.

His Inner Life

There's nothing in the painting to indicate that these flowers are growing in an asylum. That may have been intentional. Van Gogh, who once so desperately wanted to be a portrait painter, found out that he was gifted at painting common objects like flowers. He personalized the flowers. He may have thought of himself and the other asylum inmates as the irises, growing out of the dirt.

Painting Focus: Autumn Landscape (1885)

Vincent Van Gogh (1853 – 1890) is best known for paintings full of his feverishly swirling layers of color. But Van Gogh was capable of surprising realism when it came to plants, still lifes and landscapes. One of his most realistic paintings is sadly one of his least known. “Autumn Landscape” is a large oil on canvass completed just five years before the painter’s legendary death.

In this painting, two long rows of trees descend in a sharp line away from the viewer. Four birds, possibly crows, fly above the trees and against the cloudy light blue sky. The trees seem to line a path but we cannot see where that path leads to. Van Gogh did a series of tree-based landscape paintings during this time but this painting looks slightly different from the others.

Beginning Style

In 1885, Van Gogh was still trying to find his unique style through the expensive medium of paint. 1885 was the year of his first major work, The Potato Eaters (1885.)Van Gogh had only been drawing for a few years. He was far behind his fellow artists, who, for the most part, had begun training when they were children. He was often criticized for his painting by his contemporaries.

However, because he started painting so late in his life, he was able to develop a unique style. In Autumn Landscape, he seems to try imitating the smoothness of contemporary Dutch painters. In the tree trunks and long dried grasses, especially, the viewer can see the thick swaths of paint laid down by Van Gogh. Van Gogh's style is starting to emerge, but he is still trying to control it to meet current tastes in art.

The Path Without A Destination

Van Gogh's failure as a minister to an impoverished mining community left him wanting to be an artist. He lived with this father at this time at the village of Nuenen. Van Gogh's father was the village minister. There is now a museum in Nuenen, including an "outdoor museum" marking the spots where Van Gogh is thought to have parked his easel while producing paintings like Autumn Landscape.

Van Gogh seems unsure of where his life will lead, as the path through the trees suggests. The path is clearly seen but the destination is unknown. Although an autumn painting, green is still seen in the leaves, intermingling with yellows and oranges. Life is still visible among the pretty dead leaves.

Painting Focus: White House at Night (1890)

The enigmatic, mysterious Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890) painted the masterpiece "The White House at Night" a few weeks before he died of a gunshot wound. It is also known by its French name, "La maison blanche du nuit" because Van Gogh painted it from life in the French village of Auvers-su-Oise, the village where he would die. "The White House at Night" shows Van Gogh at the full flower of his artistic powers.

Considered worthless before the paint even dried, it is now considered priceless. The oil painting's last known location was the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, although it has apparently been in storage since 1995, although the painting can be seen on the museum's webpage. In the chaos of World War II, the Russian military stole the painting from German art collector and factory owner Otto Krebs.

The Painting's Subject Matter

The White House in question is not the infamous home of the American President but a small French cottage with a red roof, green shutters, yellow chimneys and white-washed walls. The house is flanked by cypresses and other trees which stand like soldiers on sentry duty. The front of the house is obscured first by large green shrubs and then by a yellow wall encircling the house. The front door is completely covered up.

Two fashionable ladies in the corpulent dresses of the day walk through the front gate, their backs to the viewer, while another woman dressed in black and carrying a basket walks on the path towards the viewer. High above is the night sky - although the sky is day-blue. At first it seems like a huge yellow sun is there, but since it is night time, the orb is actually a star, most likely Venus. This type of star is seen in many other Van Gogh paintings, including his infamous "The Starry Night" (1889.)

Death Takes a Holiday

At first glance, this painting seems to be a calm summer's day in a picturesque French village, but one has to wonder if Van Gogh was contemplating suicide as he painted it. The Hermitage Museum states that Van Gogh made the white house look like a prison. Certainly there seems no way in to the viewer because of the wall and the foliage. And why is there a sudden splash of red in two of the windows on the upper floor?

All of the women in the painting are wearing black. The woman walking towards the viewer seems elegant and young. On closer inspection, her sickly pale skin and pained expression makes her resemble the traditional figure of Death more than any French belle. Her wavy hair looks more like a hood for her black cloak than hair touching a dress.

Painting Focus: Portrait of Dr.Gachet (1890)

“I have a portrait of Dr. Gachet with the heart-broken expression of our times.” - Vincent Van Gogh in a letter to Paul Gauguin

Vincent Van Gogh (1853 – 1890) wanted to be a portrait painter. Because of his poverty, he could not afford to hire models to sit for him. Although best known for his wildly imaginative representations of common scenes from everyday life, Van Gogh needed the subjects before him in order to create. He could not draw or paint from imagination or memory.

One of the people who did sit for Van Gogh was his final doctor, Paul Gachet (1829- 1909.) Dr. Gachet not only was Van Gogh’s doctor, but was also a fan. Gachet admired many artists of the time, including Paul Cezanne and Camille Pissarro. Van Gogh produced several versions of the good doctor’s portrait. The most famous version, done in oil paints, (pictured at left) fetched a staggering $82.5 million in 1990. Unfortunately, this version has disappeared.

Painting General Description

This portrait is different from most other portraits for several reasons. Instead of sitting up straight, Dr. Gachet is slouched to one side, resting his head against one hand. On the table in front of him is a bunch of foxglove. The table also holds two books by Edmond and Jules Goncourt - Manette Salomon and Germinie Lacerteux. The former book is about four artists who live and die in obscurity. Gachet's coat is almost the same dark color as the wall, making him almost disappear into the background.

The brightest spot on the painting is the good doctor's white collar, bits of shirtsleeves peeking out of his coat sleeves and part of his dull white hat. But the most eye-catching feature is Dr. Gachet's expression. He's tired, resigned and possibly depressed. Modern doctors have speculated whether Gachet suffered from Addison's disease, because Gachet's nails are too pale in comparison to his skin.

Why So Sad?

Van Gogh would shoot himself a few months after completing his Dr. Gachet portrait series. Some art historians have speculated that Van Gogh showed the doctor looking so sad because Van Gogh was already considering suicide. Van Gogh's affectionate portrait reveals a level of intimacy that is not seen in most of his other portraits. Perhaps Van Gogh was trying to apologize for his suicide before he committed the act.

Another interpretation was that Dr. Gachet was an absinthe and foxglove tea addict, so Van Gogh merely portrayed the expression he most saw the doctor give the world. Another interpretation is that Van Gogh himself was tired of life and expressed his feelings in the face of his doctor, benefactor and friend.

Painting Focus: Head of an Angel (After Rembrandt)

When I have a terrible need of – shall I say the word – religion. Then I go out and paint the stars.” – Vincent Van Gogh in a letter to his brother Theo

The Angel (After Rembrandt) is also known as “Head of an Angel (After Rembrandt)” and Half Figure of an Angel (After Rembrandt). It’s an oil painting that looks more like watercolors than oils completed in September 1899, less than a year before Vincent Van Gogh would die of a gunshot wound.

Although not considered one of Van Gogh’s best works, it is one of his most notorious because the current location of the painting is unknown. Even the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, considered the most knowledgeable source of information on the enigmatic artist, has no idea where the painting is now or whether it has been accidentally destroyed or sitting in a private collection.

Painting Subject Matter

Rembrandt (1606 - 1669) painted many angels in his legendary career as well as other religious scenes. Van Gogh would copy numerous Rembrandts, especially those featuring angels. This particular painting is done mainly in shades of blue with a yellow halo. These shades and streaks of yellow can be seen in Van Gogh's famous painting The Starry Night. The angel's downcast face is in pale skin tones, making the face pop out from the rest of the painting.

The angel is pretty but is not looking at the viewer. One arm is outstretched to the viewer, but the palm is tightly closed. The angel seems at once to be revelatory and yet still retains his secrets, almost teasing the viewer with his closed eyes, seraphic smile and closed hand. The angel mirrors Van Gogh's own dilemma with Christianity.

Van Gogh and Christianity

Van Gogh was a minister in an impoverished mining community in Belgium when he was struck by the desire to create. His superiors removed him from the ministry because he looked and acted more like one of the miners than a minister. He was sent home in disgrace. It also during this time that Van Gogh doubted the same beliefs that he was preaching. Why would a loving God allow such suffering?

Van Gogh wrestled with Christianity the way that Jacob wrestled with the Angel - another Biblical scene Rembrandt painted but Van Gogh declined to copy. The angel in that painting has his eye half-opened and looks on Jacob with pity. Van Gogh's angel looks very much like this angel, but does not show pity.

Other posts in the Painting Focus series include:

• White House at Night (1890)
• Portrait of Dr. Gachet (1890)
• Autumn Landscape (1885)