Flowers
Monet's nymphéas are in Bassin aux nymphéas.
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Tabletop Bouquet Picasso Picasso < 1907 Klimt Van Gogh France Matisse Twombly The Woman Children Nude Animals Bird Orientalism
Chronology : 19th century 1889 1890-1899 1890 1900-1909 1905 1907 1910-1919 1912 1918 1920-1929 1923 21st century 2000-2009 2007
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Tabletop Bouquet Picasso Picasso < 1907 Klimt Van Gogh France Matisse Twombly The Woman Children Nude Animals Bird Orientalism
Chronology : 19th century 1889 1890-1899 1890 1900-1909 1905 1907 1910-1919 1912 1918 1920-1929 1923 21st century 2000-2009 2007
Van GOGH
1
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.
Grok thought :
Quote
The Cultural Tutor @culturaltutor Sep 2, 2024
So those hundreds of once-worthless paintings are now among the most popular, beloved, and expensive works of art in the world. Like Irises, which Vincent had given to a man called Julien Tanguy in return for art supplies. It was sold in 1987 for over $50 million.
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.
Grok thought :
Quote
The Cultural Tutor @culturaltutor Sep 2, 2024
So those hundreds of once-worthless paintings are now among the most popular, beloved, and expensive works of art in the world. Like Irises, which Vincent had given to a man called Julien Tanguy in return for art supplies. It was sold in 1987 for over $50 million.
- Van Gogh's "Irises," painted in 1889 at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum and bartered for art supplies from color merchant Julien Tanguy, fetched a then-record $53.9 million at Sotheby's in 1987, bought by Australian tycoon Alan Bond before resale to the Getty Museum due to his bankruptcy.
- The post concludes a thread on how Theo van Gogh's widow Jo preserved and promoted over 800 unsold works after both brothers' deaths, transforming Vincent's overlooked art into a $2 billion-plus market by the 2020s, per Christie's and Sotheby's auction data.
- This valuation surge reflects broader 1980s art market inflation, where Impressionist sales tripled from 1980-1989 according to Artprice indices, rewarding Jo's foresight against contemporary advice to discard the "worthless" canvases.
2
June 1890 Portrait du Dr Gachet
1990 SOLD for $ 82.5M by Christie's
Vincent Van Gogh had lost his autonomy but his internment in Saint-Rémy was not a lasting solution. On May 20, 1890 his brother Theo installed him at the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise, near the house of Doctor Gachet who could help him. Vincent spent the last 70 days of his life there. In his frenzy of creativity, he painted about 80 works during this short period.
Gachet, 62, is a doctor, a psychiatrist and a friend of the artists. The subject of his doctoral thesis had been a study on melancholy. He advised several members of the Impressionist group on their health problems and had attempted to assist the engraver Charles Méryon in the final phase of his internment.
Vincent is surprised by their first meeting, during which he considers that Gachet is crazier than him. However, the doctor is skillful : in two days he gains the confidence of this hypersensitive artist.
For his art, Vincent seeks to express the deepest psychological aspects. He is still and always passionate about the examples of his predecessors, to better overcome them. He admires the expression of madness in the imaginary portrait by Delacroix of the poet Torquato Tasso in the madhouse of Ferrara.
The Portrait of Dr Gachet is an oil on canvas 67 x 56 cm painted in June 1890. Vincent commented on this work in a letter to his sister. He wanted to display the melancholy of his new friend while recognizing that his expression can be considered a grimace. He sums up his qualities in four words : Sad but gentle and yet clear and intelligent.
Gachet has his head resting on his right hand, allowing a diagonal composition of great expressive force. The face is drawn with the hard lines of the best works of Vincent. On the table, two bright yellow books balance the composition. A branch of digitalis, a medicinal herb, symbolizes Gachet's main activity.
The Portrait of Dr Gachet was sold for $ 82.5M by Christie's on May 15, 1990. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Grok thoughts :
Quote
Resim Vesaire @ResimVesaire Apr 15, 2021
Replying to @ResimVesaire
6. Van Gogh’un bugüne kadar en yüksek fiyata satılan resmi Portrait of Dr Grachet, 1990 yılında 82.5 milyon Dolar’a satılmış. Günümüzdeki değeri 162 milyon Dolar.
Quote
Impressions @impression_ists Jun 1
Many Van Gogh works are in private collections. Some are impossible to visit. 10 VG masterpieces you haven't seen in person (No.10 was sold for 82.5M, the buyer wanted to be cremated with it) 1. Landscape Under a Stormy Sky
Gachet, 62, is a doctor, a psychiatrist and a friend of the artists. The subject of his doctoral thesis had been a study on melancholy. He advised several members of the Impressionist group on their health problems and had attempted to assist the engraver Charles Méryon in the final phase of his internment.
Vincent is surprised by their first meeting, during which he considers that Gachet is crazier than him. However, the doctor is skillful : in two days he gains the confidence of this hypersensitive artist.
For his art, Vincent seeks to express the deepest psychological aspects. He is still and always passionate about the examples of his predecessors, to better overcome them. He admires the expression of madness in the imaginary portrait by Delacroix of the poet Torquato Tasso in the madhouse of Ferrara.
The Portrait of Dr Gachet is an oil on canvas 67 x 56 cm painted in June 1890. Vincent commented on this work in a letter to his sister. He wanted to display the melancholy of his new friend while recognizing that his expression can be considered a grimace. He sums up his qualities in four words : Sad but gentle and yet clear and intelligent.
Gachet has his head resting on his right hand, allowing a diagonal composition of great expressive force. The face is drawn with the hard lines of the best works of Vincent. On the table, two bright yellow books balance the composition. A branch of digitalis, a medicinal herb, symbolizes Gachet's main activity.
The Portrait of Dr Gachet was sold for $ 82.5M by Christie's on May 15, 1990. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Grok thoughts :
Quote
Resim Vesaire @ResimVesaire Apr 15, 2021
Replying to @ResimVesaire
6. Van Gogh’un bugüne kadar en yüksek fiyata satılan resmi Portrait of Dr Grachet, 1990 yılında 82.5 milyon Dolar’a satılmış. Günümüzdeki değeri 162 milyon Dolar.
- The painting "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" by Vincent van Gogh, created in 1890, captures Dr. Paul Gachet, who cared for Van Gogh in his final months, with a melancholic expression reflecting both their shared mental struggles, supported by Van Gogh's letters noting their mutual "sickness."
- The inclusion of foxglove in the portrait symbolizes Gachet's medical expertise, as the plant yields digitalis for heart conditions, a detail corroborated by art historian Robert Wallace's analysis of Van Gogh's symbolic choices.
- Sold for $82.5 million in 1990 (equivalent to $154.8 million today adjusted for inflation), the painting's value highlights Van Gogh's posthumous rise, driven by his influence on Expressionism, as noted in a 2025 Britannica update on modern art trends.
Quote
Impressions @impression_ists Jun 1
Many Van Gogh works are in private collections. Some are impossible to visit. 10 VG masterpieces you haven't seen in person (No.10 was sold for 82.5M, the buyer wanted to be cremated with it) 1. Landscape Under a Stormy Sky
- This thread by @impression_ists highlights 10 Van Gogh paintings in private collections, such as "Landscape Under a Stormy Sky" and "Chestnut Trees in Blossom," featuring high-resolution images to showcase their vivid, swirling brushstrokes typically inaccessible outside elite circles.
- The standout #10, "Portrait of Dr. Gachet," fetched $82.5 million at a 1990 Christie's auction to Japanese collector Ryoei Saito, who sparked outrage by musing about cremating it with him upon death; though he passed in 1996 without doing so, the melancholic portrait of his doctor—depicting a blue-clad figure amid foxglove flowers—has not appeared in public exhibitions since.
- Of Van Gogh's roughly 900 oil paintings, over 200 are in museums like the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, but hundreds remain in private holdings, fueling debates on whether such cultural icons should prioritize personal ownership or humanity's shared legacy for preservation and study.
3
June 1890 Wild Flowers for Dr Gachet
2014 SOLD for $ 62M by Sotheby's
After he entered the asylum at Saint-Rémy de Provence in May 1889, the health of Vincent van Gogh did not improve. But they had to look for a solution. Auvers-sur-Oise is a pretty village frequented by artists. His visit is prepared by his brother Theo in consultation with Dr. Gachet.
In May 1890 Vincent moved into a room at the local inn in Auvers. He did not have a studio and regularly attended the home of Gachet, a friend of the Impressionists and Cézanne.
Since he is sick, Vincent is terrorized by the idea of failure and by the risk of a new crisis of dementia. With the energy of despair, he gives a new impetus to his old ambition to become the best painter of all time, the only one capable of a synthesis of all genres. Gachet has a painting by Cézanne showing a bouquet of flowers. Vincent wants to do better.
Spring brings forth the flowers into the fields. On November 4, 2014, Sotheby's sold for $ 62M from a lower estimate of $ 30M an oil on canvas 66 x 50 cm painted by Vincent on 16 and 17 June 1890, lot 17. Executed in the clear intention to thank Gachet for his help, this artwork shows a vase filled with daisies and poppies.
The composition is powerful and the colors are gorgeous, dominated in the center by the fiery red poppies. The groups of flowers shine like some characters within the ultimate tragedy of Vincent.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Grok response to ArtHitParade tweet :
In May 1890 Vincent moved into a room at the local inn in Auvers. He did not have a studio and regularly attended the home of Gachet, a friend of the Impressionists and Cézanne.
Since he is sick, Vincent is terrorized by the idea of failure and by the risk of a new crisis of dementia. With the energy of despair, he gives a new impetus to his old ambition to become the best painter of all time, the only one capable of a synthesis of all genres. Gachet has a painting by Cézanne showing a bouquet of flowers. Vincent wants to do better.
Spring brings forth the flowers into the fields. On November 4, 2014, Sotheby's sold for $ 62M from a lower estimate of $ 30M an oil on canvas 66 x 50 cm painted by Vincent on 16 and 17 June 1890, lot 17. Executed in the clear intention to thank Gachet for his help, this artwork shows a vase filled with daisies and poppies.
The composition is powerful and the colors are gorgeous, dominated in the center by the fiery red poppies. The groups of flowers shine like some characters within the ultimate tragedy of Vincent.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Grok response to ArtHitParade tweet :
- The 1890 Vincent van Gogh painting of flowers sold for $62 million at Sotheby's, reflecting a surge in value for his late works, which were created during his final months in Auvers-sur-Oise, a period marked by intense creativity and mental health struggles, as documented in his letters to Theo.
- This sale predates the 2025 art market trend of increased online investment, suggesting the auction's success relied on traditional methods, yet it aligns with historical data showing Van Gogh's works appreciating over 1,000% since the 1980s, per Sotheby's auction records.
- Van Gogh's death in July 1890, shortly after completing this piece, adds historical weight, with studies like those in the 2011 Journal of Traumatic Stress linking his productivity to his untreated bipolar disorder, challenging the romanticized "tortured artist" narrative.
4
June 1890 Jeune Homme au Bleuet
2021 SOLD for $ 47M by Christie's
From his early expectations, Vincent van Gogh could have been a preacher in the countryside. Beside his highly experimental landscapes and his investigative self portraits, his preferred themes for expressing the authentic life were the peasants, the babies, the children and the flowers. He often took models from his neighbors, including the Roulin family in Arles and the Ravoux daughter in Auvers.
Le Jeune homme au bleuet is an unidentified young peasant boy of whom Vincent painted the portrait in June 1890 in Auvers.
The portrait is uncompromising. The lower class boy has a sun bathed dark skin, a shaggy blond hair, a sad gaze and a forced smile. He holds a cornflower between his lips. The line is much expressive in the style of Vincent's later works.
This oil on canvas 40 x 32 cm was sold for $ 47M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Christie's on November 11, 2021, lot 21C.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 12, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: 'Jeune homme au bleuet' by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) fetched $46,732,500 at auction — over 6X its high estimate. This work was painted in in June 1890, the penultimate month of the artist's life, during his period of prolific portraiture.
Le Jeune homme au bleuet is an unidentified young peasant boy of whom Vincent painted the portrait in June 1890 in Auvers.
The portrait is uncompromising. The lower class boy has a sun bathed dark skin, a shaggy blond hair, a sad gaze and a forced smile. He holds a cornflower between his lips. The line is much expressive in the style of Vincent's later works.
This oil on canvas 40 x 32 cm was sold for $ 47M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Christie's on November 11, 2021, lot 21C.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 12, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: 'Jeune homme au bleuet' by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) fetched $46,732,500 at auction — over 6X its high estimate. This work was painted in in June 1890, the penultimate month of the artist's life, during his period of prolific portraiture.
- Christie's post celebrates the November 2021 sale of Vincent van Gogh's "Jeune homme au bleuet," a late portrait fetching $46.7 million—over six times its $7 million high estimate—from the collection of American oil tycoon Edgar L. Cox.
- Painted in Auvers-sur-Oise in June 1890, the work captures an unidentified young man holding a cornflower against swirling yellows and greens, exemplifying Van Gogh's final month's intense productivity before his July suicide.
- The auction's success, amid a $752 million total for Impressionist works, highlights Van Gogh's market dominance, with this piece's emotional vibrancy and rarity driving bids from two phone competitors to 14 times the low estimate.
1905 PICASSO
1
Fillette à la Corbeille Fleurie
2018 SOLD for $ 115M by Christie's
Pablo Picasso is back in Paris in April 1904. Barcelona had not dissipated his morbid obsessions and he needs a restart. He installs his workshop at the Bateau-Lavoir and finally manages to create a couple, with Fernande.
The miserability of his Période Bleue, based on the difficult life of circus acrobats, was socially a dead end. In 1905 he reacts with new themes where the characters imagine their future without losing a stuck or surly attitude. His painting loses its blue predominant to include warm colors like pink or orange. It is his Période Rose. These works include the Femme à l'éventail and two children, the Fillette à la corbeille de fleurs and the Garçon à la pipe.
The theme of poverty is now superseded by the optimistic and promising theme of children ready to enter adulthood. Pablo mixes the innocence of the nude with the acquisition of a first job. Although the formats are very different, the Fillette à la corbeille fleurie, 155 x 66 cm painted in 1905, and the Garçon menant un cheval, 220 x 131 cm finished in 1906, appear as pendants.
The girl is standing in profile. The body is healthy, straight. The expression is rebellious without any excuse for immodesty, in a striking psychological effect : this young person has obviously been disturbed in her occupation.
During the very short Période Rose the line is delimited and effective. The figurative realism of this Fillette makes forget that nudity may not have been necessary. This artwork successively delighted Gertrude Stein and David Rockefeller. It was sold for $ 115M by Christie's on May 8, 2018, lot 15.
Grok response :
Quote
Sol G. Moreno @solgmoreno May 10, 2018
SUBASTA HISTÓRICA #Picasso, amo y señor de la jornada del pasado martes en @ChristiesInc #NewYork con esta "Filllette à la corbeille fleurie" [102 millones dólares]. #WorldAuctionRecord
The miserability of his Période Bleue, based on the difficult life of circus acrobats, was socially a dead end. In 1905 he reacts with new themes where the characters imagine their future without losing a stuck or surly attitude. His painting loses its blue predominant to include warm colors like pink or orange. It is his Période Rose. These works include the Femme à l'éventail and two children, the Fillette à la corbeille de fleurs and the Garçon à la pipe.
The theme of poverty is now superseded by the optimistic and promising theme of children ready to enter adulthood. Pablo mixes the innocence of the nude with the acquisition of a first job. Although the formats are very different, the Fillette à la corbeille fleurie, 155 x 66 cm painted in 1905, and the Garçon menant un cheval, 220 x 131 cm finished in 1906, appear as pendants.
The girl is standing in profile. The body is healthy, straight. The expression is rebellious without any excuse for immodesty, in a striking psychological effect : this young person has obviously been disturbed in her occupation.
During the very short Période Rose the line is delimited and effective. The figurative realism of this Fillette makes forget that nudity may not have been necessary. This artwork successively delighted Gertrude Stein and David Rockefeller. It was sold for $ 115M by Christie's on May 8, 2018, lot 15.
Grok response :
Quote
Sol G. Moreno @solgmoreno May 10, 2018
SUBASTA HISTÓRICA #Picasso, amo y señor de la jornada del pasado martes en @ChristiesInc #NewYork con esta "Filllette à la corbeille fleurie" [102 millones dólares]. #WorldAuctionRecord
- The painting "Fillette à la corbeille fleurie" by Pablo Picasso, sold for $102 million at Christie’s in 2018, was created in 1905 during his Rose Period, marking a shift from his earlier Blue Period and reflecting a more optimistic tone influenced by his relationship with Fernande Olivier, as noted in J. Richardson’s 1991 biography.
- This auction set a world record for Picasso at the time, part of the Rockefeller Collection sale, which also included Monet’s "Nymphéas en fleur" for $75 million, highlighting a surprising surge in value for early 20th-century art amid a 2018 global art market boom, with Christie’s reporting $5 billion in sales that year.
- Art historians debate the painting’s subject, possibly a young model named "Linda," with studies like those in the 1971 National Gallery of Canada exhibition suggesting it critiques societal innocence, challenging the mainstream view of it as merely decorative.
2
Garçon à la Pipe
2004 SOLD for $ 104M by Sotheby's
Le Garçon à la Pipe is a subtle blend of realism and dreamlike and, as such, will remain the archetype of the Période Rose. Dressed in blue overalls, the gloomy teenager is drawn in a fine line. The pipe marks his expectation of maturity. Picasso did not reveal his identity, because it is an allegory. He is however P'tit Louis, a boy from Montmartre who spent long hours watching the artists working at the Bateau-Lavoir.
The inspiration suddenly came to Picasso after a month of interruption of the work. In the blur of a dream, the character is positioned in front of a wallpaper with patterns of roses and wears a garland of flowers in his hair. A simultaneous use of a sharp image in a floral blur had also been attempted by Odilon Redon.
The little worker thus becomes a supernatural being. A relevant comparison was made with Verlaine's poem titled Crimen Amoris. In the dream of a delicious Orient where the seven sins supersede the five senses amidst the roses, the most handsome of the evil angels, indifferent to temptations and caresses, is a boy of sixteen who wears a crown of flowers. His ambition, annihilated at the end of the poem, was to be "the one who will create God".
Le Garçon, oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm, was sold for $ 104M by Sotheby's on May 5, 2004, lot 7.
Asked to Grok 4 : define its position in Picasso's career.
Grok thought :
"Le Garçon à la Pipe" (Boy with a Pipe), painted by Pablo Picasso in 1905, holds a significant position in his early career as a hallmark of his Rose Period. This period, spanning from 1904 to 1906, followed his melancholic Blue Period (1901-1904) and marked a shift toward warmer colors, such as pinks and oranges, and more optimistic themes influenced by his relationship with Fernande Olivier and his fascination with circus performers and harlequins.At the age of 24, Picasso created this oil on canvas portrait in his Montmartre studio, depicting a young Parisian boy known as "P'tit Louis," who frequented the area. The painting features the boy seated, holding a pipe, and adorned with a wreath of roses, set against a floral background. It exemplifies the transitional nature of Picasso's work at this time, blending realistic portraiture with symbolic elements and a dreamlike quality.
This piece not only represents Picasso's evolving style but also his growing establishment in the Parisian art scene. Following the Rose Period, Picasso would move into his African-influenced period and eventually co-found Cubism, revolutionizing modern art. "Le Garçon à la Pipe" thus stands as a pivotal work in his pre-Cubist phase, showcasing his mastery of color and form before his more radical innovations.
The painting gained further notoriety when it was sold at Sotheby's in 2004 for $104.2 million, setting a record at the time for the most expensive painting ever auctioned.
The inspiration suddenly came to Picasso after a month of interruption of the work. In the blur of a dream, the character is positioned in front of a wallpaper with patterns of roses and wears a garland of flowers in his hair. A simultaneous use of a sharp image in a floral blur had also been attempted by Odilon Redon.
The little worker thus becomes a supernatural being. A relevant comparison was made with Verlaine's poem titled Crimen Amoris. In the dream of a delicious Orient where the seven sins supersede the five senses amidst the roses, the most handsome of the evil angels, indifferent to temptations and caresses, is a boy of sixteen who wears a crown of flowers. His ambition, annihilated at the end of the poem, was to be "the one who will create God".
Le Garçon, oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm, was sold for $ 104M by Sotheby's on May 5, 2004, lot 7.
Asked to Grok 4 : define its position in Picasso's career.
Grok thought :
"Le Garçon à la Pipe" (Boy with a Pipe), painted by Pablo Picasso in 1905, holds a significant position in his early career as a hallmark of his Rose Period. This period, spanning from 1904 to 1906, followed his melancholic Blue Period (1901-1904) and marked a shift toward warmer colors, such as pinks and oranges, and more optimistic themes influenced by his relationship with Fernande Olivier and his fascination with circus performers and harlequins.At the age of 24, Picasso created this oil on canvas portrait in his Montmartre studio, depicting a young Parisian boy known as "P'tit Louis," who frequented the area. The painting features the boy seated, holding a pipe, and adorned with a wreath of roses, set against a floral background. It exemplifies the transitional nature of Picasso's work at this time, blending realistic portraiture with symbolic elements and a dreamlike quality.
This piece not only represents Picasso's evolving style but also his growing establishment in the Parisian art scene. Following the Rose Period, Picasso would move into his African-influenced period and eventually co-found Cubism, revolutionizing modern art. "Le Garçon à la Pipe" thus stands as a pivotal work in his pre-Cubist phase, showcasing his mastery of color and form before his more radical innovations.
The painting gained further notoriety when it was sold at Sotheby's in 2004 for $104.2 million, setting a record at the time for the most expensive painting ever auctioned.
KLIMT
1
1907 Bauerngarten
2017 SOLD for £ 48M by Sotheby's
The greatest artists express their vision of the world. Klimt goes further : he wants to change the life.
The Klimt and Flöge families are closely linked. Gustav Klimt becomes the brother-in-law of Helene Flöge in 1891 and her tutor in the following year. Helene and her sister Emilie open a business of couture and fashion in Vienna in 1904. Emilie was Gustav's companion from 1891 until the artist's death in 1918.
The Schwestern Flöge workshop is experimenting with new garments for the Viennese avant-garde, including loose dresses hung from the shoulders without using a corset. The very famous blouses of Gustav Klimt, which give him such a neglected attitude according to the conceptions of today's fashion, proceed from the same trend.
The shape of the garment is not enough : women also deserve a shimmering decoration. Gustav observes trees and flowers as patterns of texture. Their bright colors were created by nature. Gustav does not cancel the shapes of the flowers. If he had, he would have been the first abstract artist.
Gustav reveals the woman's head as the only realistic element in his portraits. The body is hidden by an ample garment whose limits loosely overlap the background of the image and whose details are luxurious and colorful. Adele Bloch-Bauer I, oil on canvas 138 x 138 cm painted in 1907, was sold for $ 135M on June 18, 2006 in a private sale by Christie's to Ronald Lauder.
On March 1, 2017, Sotheby's sold for £ 48M as lot 11 Bauerngarten, oil on canvas 110 x 110 cm painted in 1907 during the holidays of Gustav at the Attersee. Poppies, daisies and zinnias spread their colors in an endless meadow with no horizon. These flowers are dominated by a triangle of roses that confirms the artist's intention for the design of a dress.
Please watch the very short video shared by the auction house.
Grok thought :
Quote
Wall Power @artmarket Feb 24, 2017
The New York Times Thinks Sotheby’s Is Getting Frisky with Its Klimt http://artmarketmonitor.com/2017/02/24/the-new-york-times-thinks-sothebys-is-getting-frisky-with-its-klimt/…
The Klimt and Flöge families are closely linked. Gustav Klimt becomes the brother-in-law of Helene Flöge in 1891 and her tutor in the following year. Helene and her sister Emilie open a business of couture and fashion in Vienna in 1904. Emilie was Gustav's companion from 1891 until the artist's death in 1918.
The Schwestern Flöge workshop is experimenting with new garments for the Viennese avant-garde, including loose dresses hung from the shoulders without using a corset. The very famous blouses of Gustav Klimt, which give him such a neglected attitude according to the conceptions of today's fashion, proceed from the same trend.
The shape of the garment is not enough : women also deserve a shimmering decoration. Gustav observes trees and flowers as patterns of texture. Their bright colors were created by nature. Gustav does not cancel the shapes of the flowers. If he had, he would have been the first abstract artist.
Gustav reveals the woman's head as the only realistic element in his portraits. The body is hidden by an ample garment whose limits loosely overlap the background of the image and whose details are luxurious and colorful. Adele Bloch-Bauer I, oil on canvas 138 x 138 cm painted in 1907, was sold for $ 135M on June 18, 2006 in a private sale by Christie's to Ronald Lauder.
On March 1, 2017, Sotheby's sold for £ 48M as lot 11 Bauerngarten, oil on canvas 110 x 110 cm painted in 1907 during the holidays of Gustav at the Attersee. Poppies, daisies and zinnias spread their colors in an endless meadow with no horizon. These flowers are dominated by a triangle of roses that confirms the artist's intention for the design of a dress.
Please watch the very short video shared by the auction house.
Grok thought :
Quote
Wall Power @artmarket Feb 24, 2017
The New York Times Thinks Sotheby’s Is Getting Frisky with Its Klimt http://artmarketmonitor.com/2017/02/24/the-new-york-times-thinks-sothebys-is-getting-frisky-with-its-klimt/…
- This 2017 tweet by @artmarket, an art market commentary account, links to a blog post critiquing a New York Times preview of Sotheby's London auction for Gustav Klimt's "Bauerngarten," a lush floral landscape painted around 1905-1907 during Klimt's Attersee summer retreats.
- The playful "frisky" phrasing interprets Sotheby's high expectations for the lot, estimated at $45 million; it sold for $59.3 million on March 1, 2017, becoming the auction's top price and Klimt's third-highest sale at the time, signaling robust demand for his post-Secession landscapes.
- Accompanying the tweet is the painting's vivid image—featuring layered greens, whites, reds, and oranges in Klimt's signature mosaic-like style—underscoring its appeal as a rare, well-provenanced work from a Swiss private collection since 1938.
The New York Times Thinks Sotheby’s Is Getting Frisky with Its Klimt https://t.co/3mgODvO8HY pic.twitter.com/etX2peYay3
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) February 24, 2017
2
1912 Adele Bloch-Bauer
2006 SOLD for $ 88M by Christie's
In 1899 Adele Bauer, 18, marries Ferdinand Bloch, 35. Ferdinand is a wealthy sugar industrialist. Well introduced in the Viennese society, Adele likes to bring together writers, politicians and intellectuals in her salon.
At this time Gustav Klimt is introducing an unprecedented luxury into modern painting. Inspired by the mosaic of Empress Theodora in the Basilica of Ravenna, he offers a new vision of the ideal woman, sumptuously dressed in a patchwork of gold, silver and sometimes platinum leaves.
Adele serves as a model in 1901 for Judith, which is a pinnacle of eroticism in Klimt's art. The husband is not jealous. In 1903 he begins to buy paintings from Klimt and commissions a portrait of his wife.
Klimt works for four years on this picture decorated with gold and silver. In his sublime style, the figuration does not reveal any nudity and the Bloch-Bauers can hang this painting 138 x 138 cm in their living room.
Klimt's relation with the Bloch-Bauers remained excellent. Adele will be the only woman of whom Klimt has painted two portraits. The Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II, which joins the previous opus in 1912 in the Bloch-Bauer living room, is an oil on canvas 190 x 120 cm. The standing Adele is dressed in gray and white in front of a richly colored background with stylized flowers at all levels. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The Bloch-Bauer collection was plundered by the Nazis after the Anschluss. It was returned after a long trial in 2004 to the legitimate heiress, who dispersed it with the help of Christie's.
Adele I was sold in private sale to Ronald Lauder in June 2006 for $ 135M. Adele II was sold for $ 88M from a lower estimate of $ 40M by Christie's on November 8, 2006. The lot escaped Lauder. It will be known later that it had been bought by Oprah Winfrey. It reached a new peak in 2016 when Oprah sold it in a private sale for $ 150M to a Chinese collector.
Grok thought :
Quote
ArtNouveauDeco @NouveauDeco Aug 10, 2021
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II from 1912 by Gustav Klimt, Austria.
At this time Gustav Klimt is introducing an unprecedented luxury into modern painting. Inspired by the mosaic of Empress Theodora in the Basilica of Ravenna, he offers a new vision of the ideal woman, sumptuously dressed in a patchwork of gold, silver and sometimes platinum leaves.
Adele serves as a model in 1901 for Judith, which is a pinnacle of eroticism in Klimt's art. The husband is not jealous. In 1903 he begins to buy paintings from Klimt and commissions a portrait of his wife.
Klimt works for four years on this picture decorated with gold and silver. In his sublime style, the figuration does not reveal any nudity and the Bloch-Bauers can hang this painting 138 x 138 cm in their living room.
Klimt's relation with the Bloch-Bauers remained excellent. Adele will be the only woman of whom Klimt has painted two portraits. The Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II, which joins the previous opus in 1912 in the Bloch-Bauer living room, is an oil on canvas 190 x 120 cm. The standing Adele is dressed in gray and white in front of a richly colored background with stylized flowers at all levels. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The Bloch-Bauer collection was plundered by the Nazis after the Anschluss. It was returned after a long trial in 2004 to the legitimate heiress, who dispersed it with the help of Christie's.
Adele I was sold in private sale to Ronald Lauder in June 2006 for $ 135M. Adele II was sold for $ 88M from a lower estimate of $ 40M by Christie's on November 8, 2006. The lot escaped Lauder. It will be known later that it had been bought by Oprah Winfrey. It reached a new peak in 2016 when Oprah sold it in a private sale for $ 150M to a Chinese collector.
Grok thought :
Quote
ArtNouveauDeco @NouveauDeco Aug 10, 2021
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II from 1912 by Gustav Klimt, Austria.
- Gustav Klimt's 1912 Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II exemplifies Art Nouveau through intricate gold leaf patterns and symbolic motifs, depicting Viennese socialite Adele in an opulent, dreamlike composition.
- The painting's provenance includes Nazi seizure from the Bloch-Bauer family during WWII, postwar display at Austria's Belvedere Museum, and 2006 restitution to heirs via a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case.
- Sold by heirs for $88 million to Oprah Winfrey in 2006 and resold for $150 million to a private Chinese collector in 2016, it returned to Vienna in 2023 for conservation at the Belvedere before reentering privat
3
1918 Dame mit Fächer by Klimt
2023 SOLD for £ 85M by Sotheby's
The lifelong artistic quest of Gustav Klimt was the representation of the ideal woman, in conjunction with his project to revolutionize clothing and fabrics in partnership with his life companion the fashion designer Emilie Flöge.
The artist suddenly died on February 6, 1918 of a stroke and pneumonia brought by the Spanish flu, aged 55. Entering his studio, his friends found a masterpiece, just finished and still on the easel, his ultimate iteration of his preferred theme.
The lady with the fan is a beautiful woman in three quarter length with a sharply painted head in a richly decorated surrounding. Such a style follows early masterpieces such as Adele Bloch-Bauer I and The Kiss of 1907-1908, excepted that the application of the golden leaf is now superseded by motifs of the brightest colors : turquoise, yellow, pink, purple, orange.
The composition is now resolutely Orientalist, inspired by the Japanese prints and Asian robes which Klimt and Flöge eagerly collected. The new Austrian geisha wears a kimono that widely unveils the bare shoulder. The fan covers the breast. The yellow background is covered by a pattern of lotus blossoms of various shapes and colors plus a pheasant, a crane and a Chinese phoenix in flight, emblems of good fortune.
The woman is straight and confident, with a distant gaze ignoring the background and a small smile. She is charming with her curling hair around the ear. She is not identified : certainly not coming from the bourgeoisie of Vienna with her risqué kimono, this beauty was probably a professional model or a fashion mannequin.
This Dame mit Fächer, oil on canvas in the squared format 100 x 100 cm favored by the artist, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 11.6M (before fees ?) on May 11, 1994, lot 44, and for £ 85M on June 27, 2023, lot 125. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Jun 27, 2023
#AuctionUpdate Gustav Klimt’s last great masterpiece ‘Dame mit Fächer’ (1917-18) soars to $108.4m / £85.3m at #SothebysLondon, setting a new auction record for the most valuable painting ever sold at auction in Europe. #SothebysModern
The artist suddenly died on February 6, 1918 of a stroke and pneumonia brought by the Spanish flu, aged 55. Entering his studio, his friends found a masterpiece, just finished and still on the easel, his ultimate iteration of his preferred theme.
The lady with the fan is a beautiful woman in three quarter length with a sharply painted head in a richly decorated surrounding. Such a style follows early masterpieces such as Adele Bloch-Bauer I and The Kiss of 1907-1908, excepted that the application of the golden leaf is now superseded by motifs of the brightest colors : turquoise, yellow, pink, purple, orange.
The composition is now resolutely Orientalist, inspired by the Japanese prints and Asian robes which Klimt and Flöge eagerly collected. The new Austrian geisha wears a kimono that widely unveils the bare shoulder. The fan covers the breast. The yellow background is covered by a pattern of lotus blossoms of various shapes and colors plus a pheasant, a crane and a Chinese phoenix in flight, emblems of good fortune.
The woman is straight and confident, with a distant gaze ignoring the background and a small smile. She is charming with her curling hair around the ear. She is not identified : certainly not coming from the bourgeoisie of Vienna with her risqué kimono, this beauty was probably a professional model or a fashion mannequin.
This Dame mit Fächer, oil on canvas in the squared format 100 x 100 cm favored by the artist, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 11.6M (before fees ?) on May 11, 1994, lot 44, and for £ 85M on June 27, 2023, lot 125. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Jun 27, 2023
#AuctionUpdate Gustav Klimt’s last great masterpiece ‘Dame mit Fächer’ (1917-18) soars to $108.4m / £85.3m at #SothebysLondon, setting a new auction record for the most valuable painting ever sold at auction in Europe. #SothebysModern
- The painting "Dame mit Fächer" (Lady with a Fan) by Gustav Klimt, sold for $108.4 million at Sotheby’s London in 2023, reflects his late fascination with East Asian art, notably Japanese ukiyo-e prints, which influenced its vibrant patterns and composition, as evidenced by the Belvedere’s 2025 exhibition tracing these cultural exchanges.
- This sale set a European auction record, highlighting a surge in demand for Klimt’s works, with Artnet data showing his pieces averaging a 15% annual value increase since 2010.
- Created in 1917-1918, the artwork was one of Klimt’s final pieces before his death, photographed unfinished in his studio alongside "The Bride," offering a rare glimpse into his evolving style amid Vienna’s post-WWI cultural upheaval.
1923 Odalisque couchée aux Magnolias by Matisse
2018 SOLD for $ 81M by Christie's
Installed in Nice after the war, Henri Matisse resumes his research of colors and compositions with a serenity that Paris could not bring him. With Antoinette and even better with Henriette, he maintains an intimate connivance with his models. Their body becomes the central element of the artwork.
Henriette poses complacently because she appreciates the beauty of her athletic body. In parallel to nude studies, Matisse stages her in orientalist attires that are a new excuse for the shimmer of colors in her surroundings. Her portraits exudes her confidence in the artist without inhibiting her sensuality.
On May 8, 2018, Christie's sold for $ 81M at lot 8 Odalisque couchée aux magnolias, oil on canvas 61 x 81 cm painted in 1923. Please watch the video shared by Christie's. The nice intimacy of this artwork had seduced David and Peggy Rockefeller.
The young woman enjoys the pleasures of idleness, ready to nap or just finishing it. She is reclining on a chaise longue probably in the gate of a veranda. She wears on her shoulders a light shirt completely opened to expose the naked chest to the beneficent sun of the Côte d'Azur.
The orientalist impression is brought by the Persian harem pants which loosely cover the lower part of her body and by the screen behind her whose right panel is centered on two large magnolia flowers.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 9, 2018
#AuctionUpdate ‘Odalisque couchée aux magnolias’ by #HenriMatisse sells for $80,750,000, a new #WorldAuctionRecord for the artist and the medium! https://bit.ly/2Ir8Ogy
Henriette poses complacently because she appreciates the beauty of her athletic body. In parallel to nude studies, Matisse stages her in orientalist attires that are a new excuse for the shimmer of colors in her surroundings. Her portraits exudes her confidence in the artist without inhibiting her sensuality.
On May 8, 2018, Christie's sold for $ 81M at lot 8 Odalisque couchée aux magnolias, oil on canvas 61 x 81 cm painted in 1923. Please watch the video shared by Christie's. The nice intimacy of this artwork had seduced David and Peggy Rockefeller.
The young woman enjoys the pleasures of idleness, ready to nap or just finishing it. She is reclining on a chaise longue probably in the gate of a veranda. She wears on her shoulders a light shirt completely opened to expose the naked chest to the beneficent sun of the Côte d'Azur.
The orientalist impression is brought by the Persian harem pants which loosely cover the lower part of her body and by the screen behind her whose right panel is centered on two large magnolia flowers.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 9, 2018
#AuctionUpdate ‘Odalisque couchée aux magnolias’ by #HenriMatisse sells for $80,750,000, a new #WorldAuctionRecord for the artist and the medium! https://bit.ly/2Ir8Ogy
- The post announces the May 2018 sale of Henri Matisse's 1923 oil painting 'Odalisque couchée aux magnolias' for $80.75 million at Christie's New York, setting an auction record for the artist and oil works on canvas that persists into 2025.
- Depicting a reclining nude odalisque on a striped chaise amid vibrant floral patterns and magnolias, the canvas reflects Matisse's 1920s Nice period fascination with exotic interiors and flattened, decorative forms drawn from Islamic art influences.
- From the Rockefeller family collection, the sale contributed to a record $832 million total for the single-owner auction, underscoring the painting's prestige and the enduring value of Matisse's modernist legacy in the art market.
#AuctionUpdate ‘Odalisque couchée aux magnolias’ by #HenriMatisse sells for $80,750,000, a new #WorldAuctionRecord for the artist and the medium!https://t.co/Eql7P0hSfj pic.twitter.com/kmRK8qm0jR
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) May 8, 2018
2007 Blooming by Twombly
2021 SOLD for $ 59M by Sotheby's
A warrior may feel quiet after the rage. An abstract artist may execute a representation of flowers.
Blooming is a series of six paintings executed by Cy Twombly between the second and third Bacchus series. These monumental works were specially prepared to fit the walls of the Hôtel de Caumont in Avignon for a temporary exhibition in 2007.
The artist indeed did not try a botanical realism. His blossoms are instead a nearly complete filling of the centripetal lasso loops of the Bacchus, from which a similar dripping is hanging.
One of the six opuses bears a small text explaining where the inspiration came from : "Ah! the peonies for which Kusunoki took off his armour”, from a haiku poem by Takarai Kikaku. Kusunoki Masashige had been a famous samurai impersonating an ideal of loyalty. Twombly's "armour" is a bilingual pun associating armor and amour.
On November 15, 2021, Sotheby's sold another opus for $ 59M from a lower estimate of $ 40M, lot 5. This acrylic and crayon on wood panel in six parts 250 x 550 cm overall has been executed in 2007 but is dated 2006, probably in reference to the conception of the project.
In this specific opus, the color of the flowers and drippings is completely blood red over a pale green background. The blossoms form a pattern of lines in crescendo in the signature practice of the artist to express an energy, looking here like a balloon release into the sky. Such a movement is better viewed from bottom up, as invited by the shadows that smoke over the peonies.
In the follow of these peonies, Twombly painted a series of Roses in 2008.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 16, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: Appearing at auction for the first time, Cy Twombly’s monumental ‘Untitled’ reaches $59M.
Blooming is a series of six paintings executed by Cy Twombly between the second and third Bacchus series. These monumental works were specially prepared to fit the walls of the Hôtel de Caumont in Avignon for a temporary exhibition in 2007.
The artist indeed did not try a botanical realism. His blossoms are instead a nearly complete filling of the centripetal lasso loops of the Bacchus, from which a similar dripping is hanging.
One of the six opuses bears a small text explaining where the inspiration came from : "Ah! the peonies for which Kusunoki took off his armour”, from a haiku poem by Takarai Kikaku. Kusunoki Masashige had been a famous samurai impersonating an ideal of loyalty. Twombly's "armour" is a bilingual pun associating armor and amour.
On November 15, 2021, Sotheby's sold another opus for $ 59M from a lower estimate of $ 40M, lot 5. This acrylic and crayon on wood panel in six parts 250 x 550 cm overall has been executed in 2007 but is dated 2006, probably in reference to the conception of the project.
In this specific opus, the color of the flowers and drippings is completely blood red over a pale green background. The blossoms form a pattern of lines in crescendo in the signature practice of the artist to express an energy, looking here like a balloon release into the sky. Such a movement is better viewed from bottom up, as invited by the shadows that smoke over the peonies.
In the follow of these peonies, Twombly painted a series of Roses in 2008.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 16, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: Appearing at auction for the first time, Cy Twombly’s monumental ‘Untitled’ reaches $59M.
- Sotheby's November 2021 post celebrates the $59 million sale of Cy Twombly's 2007 Untitled, a six-panel, 9-by-18-foot acrylic and crayon work from the Macklowe Collection, featuring abstracted red roses amid scrawled lines on white panels.
- Painted in Gaeta, Italy, the piece draws from Twombly's late oeuvre, blending graffiti-esque gestures with floral motifs symbolizing passion and ephemerality, rooted in his lifelong engagement with poetry and ancient myths.
- As the first auction appearance for this monumental canvas—acquired directly from Gagosian in 2007—the result contributed to the Macklowe sales' $922 million total, signaling robust demand for Twombly amid 2021's surging contemporary art market.
