Leo Martínez
While it is widely believed that Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime, this is a myth. The Red Vineyard at Arles (The Vigne Rouge) is the only painting sold during van Gogh's lifetime that we know of, and that was officially recorded and acknowledged by the art world. However, there is evidence of other works that sold before his death, including a self-portrait. The Red Vineyard was sold to Anna Boch, a Belgian painter, for 400 francs (then £16) at a Brussels exhibition in March 1890, four months before van Gogh's suicide. The painting is now located at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of the painting | The Red Vineyard (or The Vigne Rouge) |
| Artist | Vincent Van Gogh |
| Year of creation | November 1888 |
| Year of sale | 1890 |
| Buyer | Anna Boch, a Belgian painter |
| Sale price | 400 francs (then £16) or 350 francs according to different sources |
| Current location | Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, Russia |
| Other sales | There is evidence of one other work that was sold before his death, but its identity and whereabouts are unknown |
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What You'll Learn
- The Red Vineyard was the only painting officially recorded and acknowledged by the art world
- Anna Boch bought The Red Vineyard for 400 francs
- Van Gogh's first commission was for 19 cityscape paintings of The Hague
- The Red Vineyard was sold again in 1890 to Sergei Shchukin
- Van Gogh's Three Sunflowers was the first sale after his death
The Red Vineyard was the only painting officially recorded and acknowledged by the art world
While Vincent van Gogh is known to have sold more than one painting during his lifetime, "The Red Vineyard" is the only sale that is widely known and acknowledged by the art world.
The lore surrounding van Gogh's work suggests that he only sold one painting while he was alive, and "The Red Vineyard" is commonly thought to be that painting. This idea has been challenged by van Gogh scholars, who argue that the artist sold at least two paintings and some drawings during his lifetime. However, "The Red Vineyard" remains the only painting sold by van Gogh that we can officially name, as it was recorded and acknowledged by the art world.
The painting was bought by Anna Boch, a Belgian avant-garde painter, for 400 francs (then £16) at a Brussels exhibition in March 1890, four months before van Gogh's death. Boch purchased the painting to support van Gogh, and it is now located at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, Russia.
The painting depicts a landscape with a dramatic use of colour, including a fiery red vineyard, a yellow sky, and a setting sun. Van Gogh described the scene in a letter to his brother, Theo, writing about a "red vineyard, completely red like red wine" and a "green sky with a sun, fields violet and sparkling yellow". This letter provides insight into van Gogh's artistic process and his intention to work from memory when creating the painting.
While "The Red Vineyard" is the only painting by van Gogh that we can definitively say was sold during his lifetime, it is important to note that his commercial success began after his death in 1895. The Parisian dealer Ambroise Vollard recognised van Gogh's importance and started staging exhibitions, eventually selling around 30 paintings over five years. Today, van Gogh is one of the world's best-selling artists, with his works fetching prices of over $40 million.
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Anna Boch bought The Red Vineyard for 400 francs
Anna Boch, a Belgian avant-garde painter, bought Vincent van Gogh's "The Red Vineyard" for 400 francs (then £16) at a Brussels exhibition in March 1890, four months before the artist's death by suicide. The painting is now famously known as the only painting that Van Gogh is certain to have sold in his lifetime.
Anna Boch and her brother Eugène Boch were both painters and friends of Van Gogh. Eugène visited Van Gogh in Arles, France, in 1888, and Van Gogh painted his portrait, which he called "The Poet". Anna Boch owned two paintings by Van Gogh, and her brother owned several.
Van Gogh painted "The Red Vineyard" from memory in early November 1888 while the artist Paul Gauguin was living with him in Arles. The painting depicts a fiery red landscape with workers laboring in the fields and a setting sun in the distance. The artist used bold colours and experimented with style and subject matter during this period, marking a turning point in the course of nineteenth-century Western art.
Anna Boch sold "The Red Vineyard" in 1906 for 10,000 francs to a Russian textile businessman, Sergei Shchukin. The painting was later given to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, Russia, by the State of Russia in 1948.
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Van Gogh's first commission was for 19 cityscape paintings of The Hague
While Vincent van Gogh is known as one of history's greatest painters, he was not widely recognised during his lifetime. In fact, it is said that Van Gogh sold only one painting, The Red Vineyard, during his lifetime. The painting was bought by the painter and art collector Anna Boch, and later sold to a Russian textile businessman, Sergei Shchukin, in 1906. It now resides in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.
However, this lore has been challenged, as there is evidence of other works that were sold before his death. For instance, art historian and Van Gogh expert Marc Edo Tralbaut published a letter from Theo van Gogh to London dealers Sulley & Lori, which mentions a self-portrait by the artist that they had bought.
Van Gogh's uncle Cornelis commissioned 20 ink drawings of the city, which the artist completed by the end of May. This was a significant opportunity for the young artist, as his uncle owned a renowned gallery of contemporary art in Amsterdam. Despite this, Van Gogh's work did not meet his uncle's expectations, and he was offered a second commission with specific subject matter, but the results were again disappointing. Nonetheless, Van Gogh persevered and continued to improve his technique.
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The Red Vineyard was sold again in 1890 to Sergei Shchukin
While it is widely believed that Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime, this is not entirely accurate. Records show that he sold more than one painting, and his brother and uncle, who were art dealers, exhibited and purchased his work. However, the only painting known to have been sold by Van Gogh during his lifetime is "The Red Vineyard."
"The Red Vineyard," also known as "The Vigne Rouge," was painted in early November 1888 and exhibited in Brussels in March 1890, four months before the artist's death. It was sold for 400 francs (then £16) to Anna Boch, a Belgian avant-garde painter and member of the Belgian artist group Les XX (The 20). Anna Boch bought the painting to support Van Gogh, and it is said that she paid the sticker price when she should have received a "friend's price."
Anna Boch later sold "The Red Vineyard" in 1906 for 10,000 francs to a Russian textile businessman, Sergei Shchukin. The painting then made its way to a Paris art gallery, where it was purchased by Russian collector Ivan Morozov. During the Bolshevik Revolution, the painting was nationalized and given to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, Russia, by the State of Russia in 1948.
"The Red Vineyard" is among Van Gogh's most dramatically coloured Provençal landscapes. The painting depicts a vineyard in the late afternoon, with the evening sun casting a fiery red hue over the landscape as workers labor in the fields. Van Gogh created this work from memory, and it is said that he squeezed paint directly from the tube onto the canvas, sometimes using his finger to smooth it out.
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Van Gogh's Three Sunflowers was the first sale after his death
While Vincent van Gogh is known to have sold more than one painting during his lifetime, the only widely known sale is that of "The Red Vineyard" (or "The Vigne Rouge"), now located at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow. However, the first sale after his death included "Three Sunflowers", completed in August 1888. This was the first of four still lifes of sunflowers that van Gogh painted in the Yellow House in Arles. Sold in April 1891, about a year after his suicide, the buyer was French critic Octave Mirbeau, who had recently published a glowing review of van Gogh's work. In addition to "Three Sunflowers", Mirbeau also purchased "Irises" from Père Julien Tanguy, a paint seller who was close to the Parisian avant-garde artists and sometimes sold their work.
The sale of "Three Sunflowers" marked the beginning of van Gogh's commercial success, with Parisian dealer Ambroise Vollard recognising the artist's importance and starting to stage exhibitions in 1895, eventually selling around 30 paintings over the next five years. Today, van Gogh is one of the world's best-selling artists, with 11 of his paintings selling for more than $40 million in recent years.
The lore that van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime is not entirely accurate. While "The Red Vineyard" is the only painting that van Gogh is certain to have sold, records indicate that he sold at least one other work, and possibly more. Some sources suggest that he traded paintings for food, and his family collected his art as investments for the future. Van Gogh's uncle, an art dealer, was also exhibiting or purchasing his work.
One of the artist's self-portraits was sold to London dealers Sulley & Lori, according to a letter from van Gogh's brother, Theo. However, it is unknown whether this was a painting or a drawing, and its whereabouts are currently unknown.
Despite the myth of van Gogh's obscurity during his lifetime, he gradually began to win recognition while living in France. "The Red Vineyard" debuted at an exhibition in Brussels in March 1890, four months before the artist's death, and was purchased by Belgian painter Anna Boch for 400 francs (then £16). This sale was made possible by van Gogh's connection to the Belgian artist group Les XX (The 20), of which Boch was a member.
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Frequently asked questions
The Red Vineyard is the only painting that Van Gogh is known to have sold in his lifetime. It was bought by Anna Boch for 400 francs (then £16) at a Brussels exhibition in 1890.
While The Red Vineyard is the only painting that Van Gogh is known to have sold during his lifetime, there is evidence of another work that sold before his death, but its identity and whereabouts are unknown. Some sources also suggest that Van Gogh sold or bartered several paintings during his lifetime.
The Red Vineyard is among Van Gogh's most dramatically coloured Provençal landscapes. It depicts workers in a vineyard, with the evening sun hanging low over the horizon, turning much of the landscape a fiery red.
The Red Vineyard is currently located at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, Russia.
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