A rare painting by Dutch Impressionist master Vincent van Gogh of a street scene in the Paris suburb of Montmartre will be shown to the public for the first time before the auction next month.
According to Sotheby’s auction house, the work, painted in 1887, has remained in the same family collection for more than 100 years – from the public eye.
It will be exhibited next month in Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Paris ahead of an auction scheduled for March 25 in the French capital.
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“This is an important painting in Vincent van Gogh’s oeuvre because it dates from the period in which he lived with his brother Theo in Paris,” Etienne Hellman, senior director of Impressionist and Modern Art at Sotheby’s, told the Associated Press said.
Van Gogh moved to Paris in 1886 and lived in Montmartre. He left the capital for southern France in 1888, where he lived until his death in 1890.
“Before that, his paintings were much darker … In Paris, he discovered color,” Hellman said. “Color blows up in the painting.”
Sotheby’s staff show «Scene de rue à Montmartre» (Street scene in Montmartre), a painting by the Dutch master Vincent van Gogh in Sotheby’s auction house in Paris, Thursday 25 February 2021. (AP Photo / Christophe Ena)
“Street Scene in Montmartre” shows a windmill called the Pepper Mill, seen from the street under a clear sky, with a man, a woman and a little girl walking in front of wooden palisade surrounding the place.
“Paris marks this period … the most important impressionists influence his work,” Hellman said.
Sotheby’s said the painting had previously been published in seven catalogs but had never been exhibited.
Claudia Mercier, auctioneer of Mirabaud Mercier House, said: “it is also an important painting because there are very, very few of them left in private hands … especially from that period most are now in museums.”
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Sotheby’s estimates the painting’s value between 5 and 8 million euros (between $ 6.1 and $ 9.8 million). It did not disclose the identity of the owner.
It will be exhibited in Amsterdam on 1-3 March, Hong-King on 9-12 March and Paris on 16-23 March.
The Pepper Mill was destroyed during the construction of an avenue in 1911, but two similar windmills are still present on Montmartre Hill today.