Two Van Gogh records smashed—and a new highest sale price for the artist’s Paris period work – The Art Newspaper

Vincent van Gogh’s Parisian Novels (November-December 1887) sold for $62.7m at Sotheby’s, New York on 20 November, a record price for one of the artist’s works painted in Paris (all sale prices mentioned include fees). It did considerably better than expected, since the initial pre-sale estimate (without fees) was $40m. The final result almost doubled the previous highest price at auction for a work from the artist’s Paris period, the $33.2m paid for Corner of a Garden with Butterflies (May-July 1887), which sold at Christie’s last year.

The $62.7m for Parisian Novels also made it a record for a Van Gogh still life, although two earlier sales were higher in real terms (after inflation is taken into account). Still Life, Vase with Daisies and Poppies (June 1890) sold for $61.8m in 2014 and Sunflowers (December 1888-January 1889) for $39.9m back in 1987.

This week, four Van Gogh works came up for sale in the important New York November auctions. Seven Van Gogh works had been sold by Sotheby’s and Christie’s earlier in the year. There is always an element of chance about what comes onto the market (the two auction houses together had a total of six in 2024), although this year Sotheby’s made great efforts to attract major collections for the November inauguration of its new Manhattan headquarters at the Breuer building on Madison Avenue.

Parisian Novels was the star lot in the sale of the collection of Cindy and Jay Pritzker, the Chicago-based couple whose wealth came from building up the Hyatt Hotel chain. 

Also included in the Pritzker auction was a Van Gogh drawing, Public Garden with Benches in Place Lamartine (April 1888). This depicts the garden just outside the Yellow House, the artist’s home in Arles. The drawing sold for just under $3m.

Sotheby’s clocked up another record, when it sold Sower in a Wheatfield with Setting Sun (July 1888) earlier this week, on 18 November. Going for $11.2m, this was the highest price for a Van Gogh drawing at auction. Until then the record had been held by La Mousmé (August 1888), a portrait of a young woman, which sold at Christie’s in 2021 for $10.4m.

Sower in a Wheatfield with Setting Sun was part of the sale of the collection of Leonard Lauder, an heir of the founders of the Estée Lauder cosmetics company. The Lauder sale hit the headlines this week when its star lot, Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914-16), sold for $236.3m, the second-most valuable work of art ever sold at auction and the highest auction price for a modern artwork.

The fourth Van Gogh sold this week was at Christie’s, New York, on 18 November: Fisherman with Basket on his Back (January-February 1883). It went for $698,500. The drawing dates from Van Gogh’s period in The Hague and these earlier works do not fetch the prices of his later works done in France.

Record prices

Parisian Novels is now among the ten most expensive Van Gogh paintings sold at auction, entering the list at number five. Fields near Les Alpilles (November 1889) has therefore been knocked off the bottom of the list.

The buyer of Parisian Novels remains anonymous, but it is likely that the painting will go to East Asia. The winning bid at Sotheby’s was handled by Patti Wong, the auctioneer’s former head of Asia. She is now a private adviser, mainly dealing with Asian clients.

In our 2023 survey of what was then the ten most expensive Van Gogh paintings, three (and possibly more) had gone to Chinese buyers from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Traditionally Christie’s has had the lion’s share of Van Gogh sales in recent years. In the past five years, it sold 18 works for over $1m. Sotheby’s notched up just seven. However, Sotheby’s has now added another three, thanks to its sales of the Pritzker and Lauder collections.

Other Van Gogh news

The framing of Van Gogh paintings is important, since it has a major impact on the appearance of the artist’s work. The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena has just reframed its Head of a Peasant Woman in a White Bonnet (March 1885). It was removed from the ornate gilt frame in which it was bought by Norton Simon in 1984 and placed into a much more appropriate 19th-century oak European frame.

Martin Bailey is a leading Van Gogh specialist and special correspondent for The Art Newspaper. He has curated exhibitions at the Barbican Art Gallery, Compton Verney/National Gallery of Scotland and Tate Britain.

Martin has written a number of bestselling books on Van Gogh’s years in France: The Sunflowers Are Mine: The Story of Van Gogh’s Masterpiece (Frances Lincoln 2013, UK and US), Studio of the South: Van Gogh in Provence (Frances Lincoln 2016, UK and US), Starry Night: Van Gogh at the Asylum (White Lion Publishing 2018, UK and US) and Van Gogh’s Finale: Auvers and the Artist’s Rise to Fame (Frances Lincoln 2021, UK and US). The Sunflowers are Mine (2024, UK and US) and Van Gogh’s Finale (2024, UK and US) are also now available in a more compact paperback format.

His other recent books include Living with Vincent van Gogh: The Homes & Landscapes that shaped the Artist (White Lion Publishing 2019, UK and US), which provides an overview of the artist’s life. The Illustrated Provence Letters of Van Gogh has been reissued (Batsford 2021, UK and US). My Friend Van Gogh/Emile Bernard provides the first English translation of Bernard’s writings on Van Gogh (David Zwirner Books 2023, UKand US).

To contact Martin Bailey, please email [email protected]

Please note that he does not undertake authentications.

Explore all of Martin’s adventures with Van Gogh here