(25 Feb 2021) LEAD IN:
A rare painting by Dutch impressionist master Vincent van Gogh of a street scene in the Parisian neighborhood of Montmartre will be publicly displayed for the first time before its auction next month.
Sotheby's auction house said the work, painted in 1887, has remained in the same family collection for more than 100 years — out of the public eye.
STORY-LINE:
The Parisian district of Montmarte is famous for its windmills, past and present.
The impressionist master Vincent Van Gogh captured a windmill scene in 1887.
The painting, which has remained in private ownership in the same family for over a century, will soon be up for sale.
"Street Scene in Montmartre", will be exhibited next month in Amsterdam and Hong Kong, before returning to Paris ahead of an auction scheduled on March 25 in the French capital.
"It's an important painting in the oeuvre of Vincent van Gogh because it dates from the period in which he's living in Paris with his brother, Theo," says Etienne Hellman, senior director of Impressionist and Modern Art at Sotheby's.
Van Gogh moved to Paris in 1886 and lived in Montmartre with his brother Theo.
He left the capital in 1888 for southern France, where he lived until his death in 1890.
"Before this, his paintings are much darker... In Paris he discovers color," Hellman says.
"Color blows up into the painting."
"Street Scene in Montmartre" depicts a windmill named the Pepper Mill, seen from the street under a bright sky, with a man, a woman, and a little girl walking in front of a wooden fence that surrounded the place.
The Pepper Mill was destroyed during the construction of an avenue in 1911, but two similar windmills are still present today on the Montmartre hill.
Sotheby's says the painting has been published in seven catalogues before but has never been exhibited.
"It is also an important painting because there are very, very few of them remaining in private hands... especially from that period, most are in museums now," says Claudia Mercier, auctioneer of Mirabaud Mercier house.
Sotheby's has estimated the painting's value between 5 and 8 million euros (between $6.1 and $9.8 million). It did not reveal the identity of the current owner.
It will be on display in Amsterdam on March 1-3, Hong-King on March 9-12, and Paris on March 16-23.
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