Sotheby’s to Offer a Major Painting from Van Gogh’s Renowned Arles-Period Painted Side-by-Side with Gauguin in 1888, L’ALLÉE DES ALYSCAMPS Is Estimated to Achieve in Excess of US$40 Million / HK$312 Million This May in New York
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Sotheby will offer Vincent van Gogh’s L’Allée des Alyscamps as a highlight of its Evening Sale of Impressionist & Modern Art in New York on 5 May 2015.
Van Gogh completed this work in 1888 during his fabled Arles-period, when he created many of his most celebrated compositions: Sunflowers, Self-Portrait, L’Arlesienne and the Night Café all date to this stage of his career.
The painting also serves as lasting evidence of the artist’s relationship with Paul Gauguin – the two worked side-by-side in France that autumn under their shared artistic experiment known as the Studio of the South, before mounting tensions eventually drove Van Gogh to his violent breakdown at the end of the year.
L’Allée des Alyscamps is estimated to achieve in excess of US$40 million / HK$312 million
David Norman, Co-Chairman of Sotheby’s Worldwide Impressionist & Modern Art Department, commented: “Since the first memorial exhibitions of his work in 1901, Van Gogh has been one of the most influential artists of the past century.
"With the vast majority of his most important paintings in institutional collections, it is extremely rare to see a major canvas at auction – only two paintings from his final breakthrough years were offered in all of 2014.
" To offer a picture from Van Gogh’s famous Arles-period is therefore a particular privilege, and we are thrilled to present the stunning L’Allée des Alyscamps this May. Painted in 1888, the work displays all of the greatest qualities of his unique body of work: a lush, fiery palette of brilliant orange, reds and yellows against a cool blue sky, a rich and vigorously- painted surface, and an expressive mood.”
In 2014, only two works from Van Gogh’s mature period (1888–1890) appeared at auction – both at Sotheby’s. Still Life, Vase with Daisies and Poppies from 1890 sold at Sotheby’s New York for US$61.8 million / HK$482.04 million (est. US$30 – 50 million / HK$234 – 390 million) to an Asian private collector – that price marked a new auction record for any still life by the artist, as well as the highest auction price for Van Gogh since 1998.
In February of 2014, an impressive 11 bidders spanning North America, South America, Europe and Asia competed for L’homme est en mer from 1889 at Sotheby’s London, driving the final price to US$27.5 million / HK$214.5 million (est. US$9.8 – 13 million / HK$76.44 – 101.4 million).
L’ALLÉE DES ALYSCAMPS
For two months during the autumn of 1888, Van Gogh painted in the company of his close friend Paul Gauguin, who had come to the south of France for an ideological and artistic experiment they termed the ‘Studio of the South’.
The artists would set up their easels side-by-side or back-to-back, tackling what are now some of the most famous subjects of their careers.
Their first shared experience was a series of views of lovers strolling through Alyscamps, the ancient ‘Elysian Fields’ just outside the walls of the city. With its lush scenery, historic importance and romantic undertones, the location was an irresistible starting point, resulting in four major oils by Van Gogh and two by Gauguin.
Over the passing weeks, conflicts increasingly arose between the two artists. The simmering tension ultimately resulted in Gauguin’s decision to leave France for the South Pacific, and his scheduled departure in turn prompted the legendary act of self-mutilation that sent Van Gogh to the asylum in Saint-Remy.
But present work, created during their exciting first days together, presents a glorious view of the central thoroughfare of the Alycamps, one of the most famous Roman burial grounds in all of Europe.
The ruins of Romanesque sarcophagi are visible down the tree-lined promenade known as the Allée des Tombeaux, which by 1888 had become a popular lovers’ lane and parade ground for fashionable and single Arlesiennes.
In the days following his completion of the present composition, Van Goh would go on to paint two other depictions of Alycamps, but in a horizontal and more intimate format. Those pictures, both entitled Falling Leaves, hung in Gauguin’s room at the quarters the two men shared at the Yellow House and signified their important collaboration.
The present work, however, remained with Mme Marie Ginoux, the beloved innkeeper at the Yellow House and the model for L’Arlesienne.
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