Van Gogh at Sotheby’s

 

I was lucky to go on Tuesday to a Sotheby’s preview of the the recently discovered Van Gogh landscape painted while he was briefly living in Paris for 2 years with his brother Theo in 1887.

From this distance you can see bumps in the canvas surface of a previous painting (in my opinion) though nothing was mentioned. Still artist materials have always been expensive and old canvases were reused for painting new pictures. *I stand corrected. There is no painting under this one.

A much closer detailed shot (we were happily not restrained by a velvet rope). See how deftly the figures are sketched in and left without too much detail adds a  vibrance to a rather somber scene. And notice the emerald green gateway and hints of pink in the wooden fencing. 

The first signs of bright color in Van Gogh’s paintings up till this point. He was deeply influenced by the brilliant color palettes of his new friends, Impressionists Lautrec, Emile Bernard, Paul Signac, Gauguin, Seurat, Monet, Pissarro.

Its easy to imagine how Van Gogh, like other Dutch artists in the 1880’s, was thrilled to visit Paris (like you will be when you return) here gazing at the wide boulevards from top l’Arc de Triomphe.

Back to Van Gogh’s Pepper mill/Moulin à Poivre, which he painted several times. Sadly, it no long exists.

How rough and stark Montmartre was back in the day. This hilly stretch of land called Le Maquis - a checkerboard of sheds, wooden fences and tiny garden plots. Not exactly a stunning  landscape to paint maybe in our eyes. 

Another view of the same pepper mill, again enlivened with his little figures. Put your fingers over them and you’ll miss the spot of complimentary red essential to all that blue-green and yellow ochre.

A whimsical doodle of an artist painting in a rooftop garret with Sacre Coeur on one side and the windmill on the other. Of course Van Gogh was paintings in the street. There was no room amongst brother Theo’s young family to paint inside on rue Lepic.

More background on ‘ Scène de rue à  Montmartre’. Sotheby’s painting has never been exhibited since it was in Vincent van Gogh’s Paris studio. The landscape has been in the same French family since at least 1920. Although a black-and-white photograph was published in 1972, it has only once been reproduced in colour as a very small image. I did hear something to the effect that it had lain the bureau of grand Pere for 100 years, therefore its pristine condition. Originally sold for 1,000€ its expected to bring 10,000,000+ euros.

When Van Gogh moved 2 years later to Arles his colors transformed radically. From the Art Institute of Chicago an excellent timeline of his life and ventures: Van Gogh’s life was short and nomadic. By the time he died, at the age of 37, he had lived in 37 separate residences across 24 cities, mostly as a boarder or a guest dependent on the hospitality of family or friends. In 1888, he finally moved into the only home he truly considered his own: his beloved “Yellow House” in Arles. Don’t miss this 4-minute short film background on the Sotheby's painting. 

Outside the line was forming in the rain. Scène de rue à Montmartre is due be exhibited briefly (subject to Covid-19 restrictions) in Amsterdam (1-3 March), Hong Kong (9-12 March) and Paris (16-23 March, Drouot with Sotheby’s). The final auction is March 25.

Later waiting for the bus in the rain, I watched the ballet perform at Opera Bastille...That’s Paris. Meanwhile on the home front I’m still obsessed with painting yellow/jaune jonquils/daffs, fewer citron tarte, moving on to yellow tulips. Get Parisbreakfast letters, maps and watercolors in your mailbox. Thanks for reading Parisbreakfast! Cheers 🐻❤️🌷