An important landscape that Vincent van Gogh painted from his asylum window has smashed its estimate to sell for $81 million.
The Dutch artist was staying at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole after suffering his most serious psychological episode since infamously cutting part of his ear off.
It was 1889 and van Gogh hadn’t painted for six weeks, but he decided the distraction of work “might possibly be the best remedy.”
So he painted “Laboureur dans un champ,” an oil of a farmer plowing the land, which was the view from his window at the hospital.
The painting, completed in early September 1889, was owned by billionaires Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass, who sold it through Christie’s in New York.
It had a guide price of around $50 million but smashed its estimate to sell for $81 million.
The painting was bought by an anonymous phone bidder.
When van Gogh completed “Laboureur dans un champ,” he embarked on a series of portraits in the hope of impressing Dr. Peyron and van Gogh’s brother, Theo.
He left the asylum in May 1890. But two months later, at age 37, he shot himself in the chest.
Not including inflation, the $81,312,500 paid for “Laboureur dans un champ” is the second-highest price achieved at auction for a piece by van Gogh.
It kicked off Art Week in New York with Christie’s reporting sales of $479 million. Collectors are expected to spend well in excess of $1 billion on art this week.