Looking for a Van Gogh for Under $1 Million? These 4 (Relatively) Affordable Works Are Headed to Auction

Affordability: it’s not a word that springs to mind when you’re
talking about Vincent van Gogh. But for “bargain” shoppers, happy
news is afoot.

Four relatively reasonably priced works by the Dutch
Post-Impressionist are heading to auction at Sotheby’s
Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale on February 4 in London—and
each could potentially be snapped up for under $1 million.

The three drawings and one oil painting date from Van Gogh’s
years as an emerging artist, in the early 1880s, while the
peripatetic artist was living in The Hague (from 1881 to 1883) and
subsequently at his parents’ home in village of Nuenen (1883
to 1885). Each is typical of his subject matter at the time:
laborers the artist would have encountered in his local
surroundings.

Considering that paintings by the artist have sold for tens of
millions of dollars—the most expensive work by the artist sold at
auction is his Portrait of Dr. Gachet (1890),
which went for $82.5 million at Christie’s New York in 1990—the
lighter price tag might seem something of a surprise.

But lacking the artist’s recognizable Expressionist style and
the much-desired riotous color of works like Starry
Night, pictures from Van Gogh’s earlier periods rarely reach
the same fevered level of demand—leading some to speculate that
these works heading to Sotheby’s are more likely to appeal to
die-hard enthusiasts, rather than those simply looking to add a
trophy to their collection.

Still, they are intriguing. Purchased by a private
collector from New York’s Avanti Gallery in 1994, the four works
have remained unseen by the public for over 25 years.

“Van Gogh’s Nuenen works mark a
key period in his artistic development and the origin of some of
his major themes. They reveal his remarkable aptitude for capturing
human expression and feeling,” said Thomas Boyd-Bowman, head of Sotheby’s
Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sales in
London. “Although
they don’t attract the same prices as his later Arles period
paintings, they are collected widely and in recent years have been
the subject of fierce competition between bidders,” he continued,
citing Sotheby’s November 2019 sale of Van Gogh’s 1883
painting Paysan Brûlant De Mauvaises
Herbes for $3.1
million, far outstripping its high estimate of $800,000.

If you’re interested in what a humble six-figure budget can buy
you, learn more about the works below.

Orphan Man
(1882)
Estimate: £400,000–500,000 ($528,000–660,000)

Poised to be the most affordable work in the sale,
this oddly titled work shows a profile portrait of Adrianus
Jacobus Zuyderland, who was one of Van Gogh’s most frequent models.
A resident at the Dutch Reformed Almshouse for Men and Women (the
Dutch word for almsman is “orphan”), Zuyderland and other
residents from the home would pose for the artist in exchange for a
small fee. Zuyderland was a particular favorite of the artist: Van
Gogh was captivated by his striking, bright-white whiskers and
Zuyderland would later serve as the model for Van Gogh’s famed
At Eternity’s Gate (1890).

Study of a
Blacksmith (1882)
Estimate: £450,000–550,000 ($600,000–727,000)

The earliest of the works coming to auction is Study of
a Blacksmith, made between February and March of 1882.
The strong influence of the French Barbizon school of
artists—and particularly Jean-François Millet—can be seen clearly
here in Van Gogh’s interest in peasants, laborers, and everyday
people. But rather than placing his subjects in some long-gone
idyllic past, Van Gogh situated his in contemporary times. Here, a
blacksmith stands, hammer in hand, with a introspective look on his
face, foreshadowing Van Gogh’s later, even more psychologically
charged portraits.

Peasant Digging Up
Potatoes (1885)
Estimate: £450,000–550,000 ($600,000–727,000)

Made in the summer of 1885, Peasant Digging Up
Potatoes is the latest of Van Gogh’s works in the sale.
Having left The Hague in the fall of 1883, the artist spent three
months in the Dutch province of Drenthe, before returning,
unceremoniously, to his parent’s home in the village of Nuenen.
Despite a cool reception by his parents (whom he hadn’t seen since
1881), he set about immersing himself in the local community and
striving to improve his skills as a draughtsman. Here, the rhythmic
twists of the peasant’s clothing hints at Van Gogh’s
increasingly expressionistic style.

Peasant Woman Seated
(1885)
Estimate £900,000–1.2
million ($1.2–1.6 million)

Peasant Woman Seated—the star of the four lots, and the
one expected the fetch the highest sum—is the only painting in the
group. Though Van Gogh often made studies of peasants’ hands and
heads, he rarely, as in this case, depicted the full figure. Like
his masterpiece, The Potato Eaters, which
he painted in April of 1885, here the figure is presented in
profile, with a darkened silhouette against a monochrome background
and her eyes averted—a technique the artist used to create a sense
of isolated introspection. The work might exceed its estimate, as
it is one of very few oil paintings from the period, and forms part
of a series of pictures, some of which now belong to the Van
Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

The post Looking for a Van Gogh for Under $1 Million? These
4 (Relatively) Affordable Works Are Headed to Auction appeared
first on artnet News.