1889
Except otherwise stated, all results below include the premium.
See also : Van Gogh Lautrec Landscape Midi Self portrait Self portrait II Flowers Bouquet
See also : Van Gogh Lautrec Landscape Midi Self portrait Self portrait II Flowers Bouquet
Van GOGH
1
January 1889 Les Tournesols
1987 SOLD for £ 24.7M by Christie's
In 1888 in Arles, Vincent furnishes the Maison Jaune to welcome Gauguin. The decoration of the guest bedroom will consist of four oils on canvas showing sunflowers throughout their life cycle from bud to wilt, in a wide variety of bright yellows. A few months earlier, Gauguin had appreciated an exchange by which Vincent had provided him with two paintings on a similar theme.
Made in August, the four paintings are different one another by the number and arrangement of the flowers in the vase and by the color of the background. Gauguin begins his stay in October. He is dazzled : for him, the sunflower is in a way the signature of van Gogh's know-how.
The altercation followed by the mutilation of the ear takes place in December. The two artists will not see each other again, especially in prudence regarding Vincent's mental health.
In January 1889, when he is back in the Maison Jaune, Vincent works again on his sunflowers. He paints three replicas, copying with new colors the drawings of two paintings from August 1888. He also conceives a decorative triptych in which the wings are the same original paintings from August 1888 and the center La Berceuse, a portrait of Madame Roulin pulling the strings of a cradle.
Such fierceness on this theme is certainly obsessive. Vincent regretted Gauguin's departure and wanted to regain his admiration. No intervention by Gauguin in the design and execution of this series has been demonstrated.
Listed in the estate of van Gogh, one of the three replicas is bought by Schuffenecker in 1894. Its format is enlarged to 100 x 76 cm at an undetermined date by adding stripes of canvas, possibly to match the dimensions of a frame but more probably to obtain a less tight composition. The assumption that this painting is a copy made by Schuffenecker is unlikely.
This replica was listed by Christie's in their sale in London on March 30, 1987, with a pre-sale estimate in excess of US $ 16M which was enough to exceed by 50% the highest price recorded for any work of art at auction. The Sunflowers were sold to a Japanese bidder for £ 24.7M worth US $ 40M at that time.
Please watch the video shared by Thames News including a footage in the auction room and the memorable hammering at £ 22.5M before fees. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Made in August, the four paintings are different one another by the number and arrangement of the flowers in the vase and by the color of the background. Gauguin begins his stay in October. He is dazzled : for him, the sunflower is in a way the signature of van Gogh's know-how.
The altercation followed by the mutilation of the ear takes place in December. The two artists will not see each other again, especially in prudence regarding Vincent's mental health.
In January 1889, when he is back in the Maison Jaune, Vincent works again on his sunflowers. He paints three replicas, copying with new colors the drawings of two paintings from August 1888. He also conceives a decorative triptych in which the wings are the same original paintings from August 1888 and the center La Berceuse, a portrait of Madame Roulin pulling the strings of a cradle.
Such fierceness on this theme is certainly obsessive. Vincent regretted Gauguin's departure and wanted to regain his admiration. No intervention by Gauguin in the design and execution of this series has been demonstrated.
Listed in the estate of van Gogh, one of the three replicas is bought by Schuffenecker in 1894. Its format is enlarged to 100 x 76 cm at an undetermined date by adding stripes of canvas, possibly to match the dimensions of a frame but more probably to obtain a less tight composition. The assumption that this painting is a copy made by Schuffenecker is unlikely.
This replica was listed by Christie's in their sale in London on March 30, 1987, with a pre-sale estimate in excess of US $ 16M which was enough to exceed by 50% the highest price recorded for any work of art at auction. The Sunflowers were sold to a Japanese bidder for £ 24.7M worth US $ 40M at that time.
Please watch the video shared by Thames News including a footage in the auction room and the memorable hammering at £ 22.5M before fees. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
April 1889 Paysage sous un Ciel Mouvementé
2015 SOLD for $ 54M by Sotheby's
Vincent van Gogh arrived in Arles in February 1888. He decided to stay there, charmed by the beauty of the surrounding countryside. His paintings of blooming orchards are joyous.
His mental health had always been fragile. The tension in his relationship with Gauguin rushed his delirious crises requiring his internment in psychiatric hospitals. His anguished questioning about the unknown cause of his illness worsens his condition. He cannot work during his crises.
On November 5, 2015, Sotheby's sold for $ 54M Paysage sous un ciel mouvementé, oil on canvas 60 x 74 cm, lot 14 estimated $ 50M. This artwork was made in mid-April 1889 within a very short period of lull that allowed him again to paint outdoors. This insignificant countryside surrounding Arles cannot be located with more accuracy.
That new spring looked very different to him from that of the previous year. The flowery meadow that occupies the foreground is not welcoming although a little character is coming to pick flowers. It is well lit but not sunny. The trees are twisted off by the wind.
The clouds are processed in a thick impasto involving all shades of gray, with a great violence that anticipates the whirlpools in the starry sky of the following months. This tormented painting is already attesting the fatal drift of his genius into dementia.
His mental health had always been fragile. The tension in his relationship with Gauguin rushed his delirious crises requiring his internment in psychiatric hospitals. His anguished questioning about the unknown cause of his illness worsens his condition. He cannot work during his crises.
On November 5, 2015, Sotheby's sold for $ 54M Paysage sous un ciel mouvementé, oil on canvas 60 x 74 cm, lot 14 estimated $ 50M. This artwork was made in mid-April 1889 within a very short period of lull that allowed him again to paint outdoors. This insignificant countryside surrounding Arles cannot be located with more accuracy.
That new spring looked very different to him from that of the previous year. The flowery meadow that occupies the foreground is not welcoming although a little character is coming to pick flowers. It is well lit but not sunny. The trees are twisted off by the wind.
The clouds are processed in a thick impasto involving all shades of gray, with a great violence that anticipates the whirlpools in the starry sky of the following months. This tormented painting is already attesting the fatal drift of his genius into dementia.
Discover the unique connoisseurship of Evelyn and Louis Franck #VanGogh http://t.co/phe5dtq0Lp pic.twitter.com/FAiGFBbBim
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) October 14, 20153
May 1889 Les Iris
1987 SOLD for $ 54M by Sotheby's
Sale canceled in 1990
Hallucinatory crises were becoming repetitive. Vincent understood that he had lost his autonomy. On the suggestion of a friend and with Theo's agreement, he voluntarily entered on May 8, 1889 at the asylum of Saint-Rémy.
The first feeling is very good. His pictorial creation is a lightning rod which will protect him against his illness. He sets to work with a new enthusiasm. The garden of the former monastery is beautiful in the middle of spring, and perhaps later he will be able to walk in the Alpilles which he sees on the horizon.
The iris flowerbed attracts his attention. He paints at the very beginning of his stay with an obvious pleasure an oil on canvas 74 x 93 cm, apparently without preparatory drawing. The irises occupy the foreground, in a varied and stylized arrangement which is certainly inspired by the processing of close-ups and angles in Japanese prints. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Vincent appreciated since Gauguin's stay at the Maison Jaune a few months earlier that the vividness of colors has become his best strength, and that flowers perfectly match it. The flowers of his irises are bright blue with the exception of one single white flower. This painting is a study of contrasts with the green leaves of the same plants, painted a little lighter than real, the orange flowers of the marigolds in the background and the ocher ground.
Theo is all the more amazed that happy impulses are very rare for Vincent in this tragic period. In September he exhibits this masterpiece alongside the Starry Night at the annual Salon of the Société des Artistes Indépendants.
Les Iris was sold for $ 54M by Sotheby's on November 11, 1987, seven months after the record setting sale by Christie's of the Sunflowers by the same artist for the equivalent of $ 40M. It returned to the auction house for default of the winning bidder, an Australian businessman, and was acquired in 1990 by the J. Paul Getty Museum.
The first feeling is very good. His pictorial creation is a lightning rod which will protect him against his illness. He sets to work with a new enthusiasm. The garden of the former monastery is beautiful in the middle of spring, and perhaps later he will be able to walk in the Alpilles which he sees on the horizon.
The iris flowerbed attracts his attention. He paints at the very beginning of his stay with an obvious pleasure an oil on canvas 74 x 93 cm, apparently without preparatory drawing. The irises occupy the foreground, in a varied and stylized arrangement which is certainly inspired by the processing of close-ups and angles in Japanese prints. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Vincent appreciated since Gauguin's stay at the Maison Jaune a few months earlier that the vividness of colors has become his best strength, and that flowers perfectly match it. The flowers of his irises are bright blue with the exception of one single white flower. This painting is a study of contrasts with the green leaves of the same plants, painted a little lighter than real, the orange flowers of the marigolds in the background and the ocher ground.
Theo is all the more amazed that happy impulses are very rare for Vincent in this tragic period. In September he exhibits this masterpiece alongside the Starry Night at the annual Salon of the Société des Artistes Indépendants.
Les Iris was sold for $ 54M by Sotheby's on November 11, 1987, seven months after the record setting sale by Christie's of the Sunflowers by the same artist for the equivalent of $ 40M. It returned to the auction house for default of the winning bidder, an Australian businessman, and was acquired in 1990 by the J. Paul Getty Museum.
4
September 2, 1889 Laboureur dans un Champ
2017 SOLD for $ 81M by Christie's
On May 8, 1889 Vincent van Gogh enters the asylum for insanes of Dr. Peyron in Saint-Rémy de Provence. Rightly considered as dangerous for himself, he is not allowed to walk outside but a small workshop is attributed to him. In this narrow universe Vincent interprets the works of other artists and looks beyond the window through the thick bars.
On June 18, Vincent paints La Nuit étoilée in which the stars are transformed into whirlwinds of fire. Anxious about the loss of control of his mental health, Vincent believes being appeased by the energy of his hallucination. Doctors fear another major crisis. They are right : it happens in mid-July.
Supervised by the doctors, Vincent does not paint during his crises. He takes his brushes again in the last days of August. The window of his room looks to the east. The sun rising above the wheat field is blinding and hypnotic, and also reveals the bright colors that constitute the soil. The colors are intermingled like swirls, scars and tongues of fire with an extreme violence.
This oil on canvas 50 x 65 cm is titled Laboureur dans un champ. The man, the horse and the plow in mid-distance against the light offer a new opus of the favorite theme of Vincent's career, a result of his lifelong empathy with the soil workers.
Healing through hard work that released his impulses was only an illusion but it produced unprecedented masterpieces. The next crisis comes in December.
Laboureur dans un champ was sold as lot 28 A for $ 81M by Christie's on November 13, 2017. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image below is shared by Wikimedia.
On June 18, Vincent paints La Nuit étoilée in which the stars are transformed into whirlwinds of fire. Anxious about the loss of control of his mental health, Vincent believes being appeased by the energy of his hallucination. Doctors fear another major crisis. They are right : it happens in mid-July.
Supervised by the doctors, Vincent does not paint during his crises. He takes his brushes again in the last days of August. The window of his room looks to the east. The sun rising above the wheat field is blinding and hypnotic, and also reveals the bright colors that constitute the soil. The colors are intermingled like swirls, scars and tongues of fire with an extreme violence.
This oil on canvas 50 x 65 cm is titled Laboureur dans un champ. The man, the horse and the plow in mid-distance against the light offer a new opus of the favorite theme of Vincent's career, a result of his lifelong empathy with the soil workers.
Healing through hard work that released his impulses was only an illusion but it produced unprecedented masterpieces. The next crisis comes in December.
Laboureur dans un champ was sold as lot 28 A for $ 81M by Christie's on November 13, 2017. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image below is shared by Wikimedia.
5
September 1889 Portrait de l'Artiste sans Barbe
1998 SOLD for $ 71.5M by Christie's
Van Gogh is interned in Saint-Rémy since May 8, 1889. Two months later a lull in his health condition allows an escorted visit to Arles. Unhappy with missed appointments, he has a dementia attack on July 16.
The crisis is severe. Vincent does not go out any more and cannot resume his brushes before the end of August. Through the window, he sees a free man, the only free man who passes in his angle of vision, a peasant with his horse and his plow. Laboureur dans un champ was sold for $ 81M by Christie's in 2017.
Once again he feels a frantic urge to paint, as an antidote to his illness. Concerned also by the visible signs of madness on his face, he makes three self-portraits in bust, from the left side to hide the right ear.
On two of them, he is bearded. The background is decorated with swirls in his new signature style. On the portrait which is preserved in the Museum of Oslo, perhaps the earliest in this small series, the biased gaze is incontestably psychotic. About the painting that is currently in the Musée d'Orsay, he writes to Theo with a remarkable lucidity that his face is calm but that some distress remains in his gaze.
The other self-portrait is different. He painted it to make a birthday present to his mother, who turns 70 on September 10, 1889. To appear still young and healthy, the face is without beard, which does not mean that it corresponded to reality : a beardless man was not in the fashion of the time. He also wanted to make his caregivers and Theo believe that he felt cured.
This Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe, oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm, was sold for $ 71.5M by Christie's on November 19, 1998 from a lower estimate of $ 20M. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The crisis is severe. Vincent does not go out any more and cannot resume his brushes before the end of August. Through the window, he sees a free man, the only free man who passes in his angle of vision, a peasant with his horse and his plow. Laboureur dans un champ was sold for $ 81M by Christie's in 2017.
Once again he feels a frantic urge to paint, as an antidote to his illness. Concerned also by the visible signs of madness on his face, he makes three self-portraits in bust, from the left side to hide the right ear.
On two of them, he is bearded. The background is decorated with swirls in his new signature style. On the portrait which is preserved in the Museum of Oslo, perhaps the earliest in this small series, the biased gaze is incontestably psychotic. About the painting that is currently in the Musée d'Orsay, he writes to Theo with a remarkable lucidity that his face is calm but that some distress remains in his gaze.
The other self-portrait is different. He painted it to make a birthday present to his mother, who turns 70 on September 10, 1889. To appear still young and healthy, the face is without beard, which does not mean that it corresponded to reality : a beardless man was not in the fashion of the time. He also wanted to make his caregivers and Theo believe that he felt cured.
This Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe, oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm, was sold for $ 71.5M by Christie's on November 19, 1998 from a lower estimate of $ 20M. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
6
September 1889 Travaux des Champs
2017 SOLD for £ 24M by Christie's
The frustrated altruistic vocation of Vincent van Gogh was to become a working class pastor. His deep interest in art has no professional purpose : very early the idea of trading art disgusts him. When the young bourgeois comes into contact with the peasant world he deeply admires the almost apostolic personality of Jean-François Millet.
Vincent's path to his artistic maturity is long and includes many copies from the masters. In 1889 his mental health becomes critical. For long periods in Arles or in the asylum at Saint-Rémy he can no longer go outdoors and has no more models. This interpreter of nature must now content himself with images. He undertakes a systematic copy of the two great series of wood engravings by Millet, the Quatre Heures du Jour and the ten Travaux des Champs.
The drawings made by Vincent are very similar to Millet's originals but the works are completely re-interpreted by the balance of the colors. The deep blue of the sky and the gold of the wheat fields are skilfully highlighted by the softer colors of the clothes.
The harvester by Millet was certainly one of Vincent's favorite themes. Seen from behind, this very tall peasant is bent to mow the corn. In the Christian tradition the scythe is the instrument of death, translated more positively by Vincent as a symbol of the position of the harvest in the inexorable cycle of life.
On June 27, 2017, Christie's sold for £ 24M from a lower estimate of £ 12.5M Le Moissonneur (d'après Millet), oil on canvas 43 x 24 cm painted by Vincent in September 1889, lot 6. The image below is shared by Wikimedia.
Vincent's path to his artistic maturity is long and includes many copies from the masters. In 1889 his mental health becomes critical. For long periods in Arles or in the asylum at Saint-Rémy he can no longer go outdoors and has no more models. This interpreter of nature must now content himself with images. He undertakes a systematic copy of the two great series of wood engravings by Millet, the Quatre Heures du Jour and the ten Travaux des Champs.
The drawings made by Vincent are very similar to Millet's originals but the works are completely re-interpreted by the balance of the colors. The deep blue of the sky and the gold of the wheat fields are skilfully highlighted by the softer colors of the clothes.
The harvester by Millet was certainly one of Vincent's favorite themes. Seen from behind, this very tall peasant is bent to mow the corn. In the Christian tradition the scythe is the instrument of death, translated more positively by Vincent as a symbol of the position of the harvest in the inexorable cycle of life.
On June 27, 2017, Christie's sold for £ 24M from a lower estimate of £ 12.5M Le Moissonneur (d'après Millet), oil on canvas 43 x 24 cm painted by Vincent in September 1889, lot 6. The image below is shared by Wikimedia.
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7
October 1889 L'Homme est en Mer
2014 SOLD for £ 17M by Sotheby's
Vincent Van Gogh is interned in the asylum at Saint-Rémy from May 1889. Between crises of madness, he maintains his ambition of being better than all the other painters.
He copies in his own style the pictures that Theo sends to him. His idea is pedagogic : assembling a wide variety of subjects in order to demonstrate the possibilities of figurative art.
In October, Vincent copies L'homme est en mer by Virginie Demont-Breton. His oil on canvas 66 x 51 cm was sold for £ 17M from a lower estimate of £ 6M Sotheby's on February 5, 2014, lot 39. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Daughter of the peasant painter Jules Breton, Virginie specialized in scenes of marine life. L'homme est en mer shows a languid young woman sitting by the fire with her baby, powerless against the dangers faced by her husband.
Vincent accurately reflects the composition but is not simply a follower of Demont-Breton. The colors are gorgeous, reinforced by the lines typical of his style through which his paintings go beyond the emotional load of impressionists and pointillists.
The outside world is prohibited to the enclosed artist. The parallel between his own distress and the anguish of the woman is probably a psychological reason that guided his choice. The reference to the sea symbolizes both freedom and danger, and the sleeping baby is leading to the future.
He copies in his own style the pictures that Theo sends to him. His idea is pedagogic : assembling a wide variety of subjects in order to demonstrate the possibilities of figurative art.
In October, Vincent copies L'homme est en mer by Virginie Demont-Breton. His oil on canvas 66 x 51 cm was sold for £ 17M from a lower estimate of £ 6M Sotheby's on February 5, 2014, lot 39. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Daughter of the peasant painter Jules Breton, Virginie specialized in scenes of marine life. L'homme est en mer shows a languid young woman sitting by the fire with her baby, powerless against the dangers faced by her husband.
Vincent accurately reflects the composition but is not simply a follower of Demont-Breton. The colors are gorgeous, reinforced by the lines typical of his style through which his paintings go beyond the emotional load of impressionists and pointillists.
The outside world is prohibited to the enclosed artist. The parallel between his own distress and the anguish of the woman is probably a psychological reason that guided his choice. The reference to the sea symbolizes both freedom and danger, and the sleeping baby is leading to the future.
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8
October 1889 Vue de l'Asile
2018 SOLD for $ 40M by Christie's
In July 1889 Vincent van Gogh suffered a relapse of his crises while he was interned in the asylum at Saint-Rémy. Once again he managed to convince the doctors that working was good for his health. He was right but unfortunately temporarily only.
Laboureur dans un champ is a masterpiece of that new phase, composed from memory and from what he could see from the window. This oil on canvas 50 x 65 cm completed in September 2, 1889, was sold for $ 81M on 2017.
Vue de l'asile et de la chapelle Saint-Paul de Mausole à Saint-Rémy, oil on canvas 45 x 60 cm, was painted in mid-October. It was sold twice by Christie's : from the deceased estate of Elizabeth Taylor on February 7, 2012 for £ 10.1M, lot 12, and for $ 40M on May 15, 2018, lot 24 A. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
It is an overview of the buildings of the asylum, in a gentle stylized realism. The swirling textures of the sky and trees open the way to the masterpieces of Auvers, and in the whole lower part of the image the tangle of colors of the field is already foreshadowing the colorists of the next century..
The importance of this view in Vincent's art has been re-evaluated. It appears now as being the only landscape in that fall that Vincent had painted outdoors throughout, under the close surveillance of an attendant.
In his signature line previously used in Laboureur, Vincent offers in this view a much quieter rendering. Feeling that he was on the way to recover, he was happy with his great control of his brushstroke and delighted with the autumnal colors.
Laboureur dans un champ is a masterpiece of that new phase, composed from memory and from what he could see from the window. This oil on canvas 50 x 65 cm completed in September 2, 1889, was sold for $ 81M on 2017.
Vue de l'asile et de la chapelle Saint-Paul de Mausole à Saint-Rémy, oil on canvas 45 x 60 cm, was painted in mid-October. It was sold twice by Christie's : from the deceased estate of Elizabeth Taylor on February 7, 2012 for £ 10.1M, lot 12, and for $ 40M on May 15, 2018, lot 24 A. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
It is an overview of the buildings of the asylum, in a gentle stylized realism. The swirling textures of the sky and trees open the way to the masterpieces of Auvers, and in the whole lower part of the image the tangle of colors of the field is already foreshadowing the colorists of the next century..
The importance of this view in Vincent's art has been re-evaluated. It appears now as being the only landscape in that fall that Vincent had painted outdoors throughout, under the close surveillance of an attendant.
In his signature line previously used in Laboureur, Vincent offers in this view a much quieter rendering. Feeling that he was on the way to recover, he was happy with his great control of his brushstroke and delighted with the autumnal colors.
9
October 1889 Arbres
2019 SOLD for $ 40M by Christie's
The arrival of Vincent van Gogh in Provence marks the beginning of a creative frenzy that is interrupted only by his fits of dementia. He still and ever seeks to vary his themes and styles to become the best artist in the world.
La Nuit étoilée, oil on canvas painted in June 1889 at the asylum of St-Rémy, is unprecedented in the history of art. Vincent first wanted to paint the colors of the night. In order for them to be clearly visible, he oversized the Moon and the stars which have become swirls of colors.
La Nuit étoilée is also a landscape with the village of St-Rémy and the Alpilles. It is dominated in the foreground by an isolated floating tree, disproportionate and asymmetrical. With its longevity and its evergreen leaves, the cypress is the symbol of eternal life and the tree of the graveyards.
In October 1889 nature offers a satisfaction to Vincent : that autumn is superb. The artist paints the colors of the garden. With a texture of violent lines, the brushstroke has integrated the style of the Starry Night. In the foreground two or three thin trunks twist. The only vertical reference in this unbalanced universe is the tall cypress, in the distance, with the same asymmetry as the tree of the Starry Night.
Painted in vibrant colors, Arbres dans le Jardin de l'Asile, oil on canvas 42 x 34 cm, was sold as lot 15A for $ 40M by Christie's on May 13, 2019. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
La Nuit étoilée, oil on canvas painted in June 1889 at the asylum of St-Rémy, is unprecedented in the history of art. Vincent first wanted to paint the colors of the night. In order for them to be clearly visible, he oversized the Moon and the stars which have become swirls of colors.
La Nuit étoilée is also a landscape with the village of St-Rémy and the Alpilles. It is dominated in the foreground by an isolated floating tree, disproportionate and asymmetrical. With its longevity and its evergreen leaves, the cypress is the symbol of eternal life and the tree of the graveyards.
In October 1889 nature offers a satisfaction to Vincent : that autumn is superb. The artist paints the colors of the garden. With a texture of violent lines, the brushstroke has integrated the style of the Starry Night. In the foreground two or three thin trunks twist. The only vertical reference in this unbalanced universe is the tall cypress, in the distance, with the same asymmetry as the tree of the Starry Night.
Painted in vibrant colors, Arbres dans le Jardin de l'Asile, oil on canvas 42 x 34 cm, was sold as lot 15A for $ 40M by Christie's on May 13, 2019. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
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10
October 1889 Parc de l'Hôpital
2010 SOLD for £ 9M by Christie's
A view in St. Paul's Hospital Garden, oil on canvas 67 x 52 cm, was sold for £ 9M by Christie's on June 23, 2010, lot 17.
This view painted by van Gogh in October 1889 is in the same style and theme as the smaller but brighter picture of the same garden sold for $ 40M by Christie's in 2019.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This view painted by van Gogh in October 1889 is in the same style and theme as the smaller but brighter picture of the same garden sold for $ 40M by Christie's in 2019.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1889 Cassis by Signac
2007 SOLD for $ 14M by Christie's
to be narrated later
Link to catalogue.
1889 Pierreuse by Lautrec
2020 SOLD for $ 9.1M by Christie's
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec admires the pretty gamines of Montmartre. In 1885, he sketches the portrait of the golden haired Carmen. In 1889, he has a friend taken photos of the Grecian profile of Hélène, his neighbor, aged 18.
Two allegorical works painted in 1889 deal with the extreme attitudes of these young adults, wisdom and bad life. The formats are similar but the technique is different. He recreates the atmosphere of the chansons réalistes of his friend Aristide Bruant, who makes his fortune by titillating the bourgeois in his cabaret Le Mirliton. Both artworks are signed HT Lautrec, hiding the aristocratic origin of the artist.
La Liseuse, peinture à l'essence on board 68 x 61 cm, was sold for £ 5.6M including premium by Sotheby's on June 22, 2011, lot 19. Hélène is studious, undisturbed in her reading.
Pierreuse, oil on canvas 72 x 48 cm, was sold for $ 9.1M by Christie's on December 2, 2020 from a lower estimate of $ 3M, lot 37.
Carmen "la Rousse" looks at something off-screen, attentively, without paying attention to the strand of hair that runs down her cheek. The title gives the key : in the language of Montmartre, the pierreuse was the prostitute of the lowest rank who solicits while walking in the streets. This painting was originally owned by Bruant and much later by Sacha Guitry.
Two allegorical works painted in 1889 deal with the extreme attitudes of these young adults, wisdom and bad life. The formats are similar but the technique is different. He recreates the atmosphere of the chansons réalistes of his friend Aristide Bruant, who makes his fortune by titillating the bourgeois in his cabaret Le Mirliton. Both artworks are signed HT Lautrec, hiding the aristocratic origin of the artist.
La Liseuse, peinture à l'essence on board 68 x 61 cm, was sold for £ 5.6M including premium by Sotheby's on June 22, 2011, lot 19. Hélène is studious, undisturbed in her reading.
Pierreuse, oil on canvas 72 x 48 cm, was sold for $ 9.1M by Christie's on December 2, 2020 from a lower estimate of $ 3M, lot 37.
Carmen "la Rousse" looks at something off-screen, attentively, without paying attention to the strand of hair that runs down her cheek. The title gives the key : in the language of Montmartre, the pierreuse was the prostitute of the lowest rank who solicits while walking in the streets. This painting was originally owned by Bruant and much later by Sacha Guitry.
#AuctionUpdate 'Pierreuse', featuring one of #ToulouseLautrec's favorite models, the auburn-haired gamine, Carmen Gaumin. sold for USD 9,062,000, three times its low estimate, after an 8 minute bidding battle https://t.co/hqIazv277F pic.twitter.com/BWUStAce9c
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) December 2, 2020
