It was a snowy February in 1888, when Vincent Van Gogh left Paris to settle in Arles: he hoped to enjoy an idyll of colourful nature in
the south, but brought with him his fascination for Japanese culture and its distinctive artistic style.
He couldn’t afford sitters so used to paint his neighbours; and it is a drawing of a young girl from Arles that is going on sale tomorrow at Christies in New York. ‘La Mousmé is’, he wrote to his brother Theo, ‘a Japanese girl – Provencal in this case’.
It’s expected to fetch 7-10 million dollars.
Also for sale, ‘Scene de rue a Montmartre‘ which he painted before leaving Paris. It has been owned by the same family since 1920 so not seen in public for a hundred years. It goes on sale at Sotheby’s on March 25th. Thanks to Julia for this info.
Vincent van Gogh’s Scène de rue à Montmartre/Montmartre Street Scene (Impasse des Deux Frères et le Moulin à Poivre) (February-April 1887) Courtesy of Sotheby’s/ArtDigital Studio
aixcentric 
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