Portrait of Dr. Gachet
The first version of Portrait of Dr. Gachet, that was sold in 1990 for $82.5 million. The current location of the painting is not known. The second version of Portrait of Dr. Gachet.
Portrait of Dr. Gachet is one of the most revered paintings by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. He painted two versions in June 1890 during the last months of his life. Both paintings are 67 x 56 cm (26" x 22") in size and are oil paintings on canvas.
The portraits were painted in Auvers-sur-Oise close to Paris, and depict Doctor Gachet with a foxglove plant. Gachet took care of van Gogh during his last months. Gachet was also a hobby painter and became good friends with van Gogh, and he requested that van Gogh paint a second version of the portrait. The foxglove in the painting is a plant from which digitalis is extracted for the treatment of certain heart complaints; the foxglove is thereby an attribute of Gachet.
Of the painting van Gogh wrote to his brother in 1890, "I've done the portrait of M. Gachet with a melancholy expression, which might well seem like a grimace to those who see it. . . . Sad but gentle, yet clear and intelligent, that is how many portraits ought to be done. . . . There are modern heads that may be looked at for a long time, and that may perhaps be looked back on with longing a hundred years later."
Ownership history
The painting was sold by van Gogh's sister-in-law for 300 francs in 1897. In 1911 the painting was acquired by the Stadel Museum (Städtische Galerie) in Frankfurt, Germany where it hung at the museum until 1933 when the painting was removed and put in a hidden room. In 1937 it was confiscated by the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, an arm of the Nazi government that sought to rid pre-war Germany of so-called degenerate art. After being confiscated it came into the possession of Hermann Goring who quickly sold it to a dealer in Amsterdam who in turn sold it to a collector, Siegfried Kramarsky. He brought it with him when he fled to New York and the work was often lent to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Kramarsky's family put the painting up for auction in 1990.
The painting became famous on May 15, 1990, when Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito paid $82.5 million for it at auction in Christie's, New York; this made it the most expensive painting at the time (it has since been surpassed by Picasso's Garçon à la pipe in 2004). Ryoei Saito, who died in 1996, had caused a scandal when he threatened to have the van Gogh painting cremated with him after his death. Saito, 75 years old at the time, the honorary chairman of Daishowa Paper Manufacturing Co., later stated: "What I really wanted to [express] was my wish to preserve the paintings forever." Saito, his aides explained, was using a figure of speech: threatening to torch the oils was just an expression of intense affection for the masterpieces. Later Saito said he would consider giving the paintings to his government or a museum. The whereabouts of the first version are currently unknown. The second version of the portrait is currently in Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
The story is the subject of a book, Portrait of Dr. Gachet: The Story of a van Gogh Masterpiece, Money, Politics, Collectors, Greed, and Loss, by Cynthia Saltzman.
The first version of Portrait of Dr. Gachet, that was sold in 1990 for $82.5 million. The current location of the painting is not known. The second version of Portrait of Dr. Gachet.
Portrait of Dr. Gachet is one of the most revered paintings by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. He painted two versions in June 1890 during the last months of his life. Both paintings are 67 x 56 cm (26" x 22") in size and are oil paintings on canvas.
The portraits were painted in Auvers-sur-Oise close to Paris, and depict Doctor Gachet with a foxglove plant. Gachet took care of van Gogh during his last months. Gachet was also a hobby painter and became good friends with van Gogh, and he requested that van Gogh paint a second version of the portrait. The foxglove in the painting is a plant from which digitalis is extracted for the treatment of certain heart complaints; the foxglove is thereby an attribute of Gachet.
Of the painting van Gogh wrote to his brother in 1890, "I've done the portrait of M. Gachet with a melancholy expression, which might well seem like a grimace to those who see it. . . . Sad but gentle, yet clear and intelligent, that is how many portraits ought to be done. . . . There are modern heads that may be looked at for a long time, and that may perhaps be looked back on with longing a hundred years later."
Ownership history
The painting was sold by van Gogh's sister-in-law for 300 francs in 1897. In 1911 the painting was acquired by the Stadel Museum (Städtische Galerie) in Frankfurt, Germany where it hung at the museum until 1933 when the painting was removed and put in a hidden room. In 1937 it was confiscated by the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, an arm of the Nazi government that sought to rid pre-war Germany of so-called degenerate art. After being confiscated it came into the possession of Hermann Goring who quickly sold it to a dealer in Amsterdam who in turn sold it to a collector, Siegfried Kramarsky. He brought it with him when he fled to New York and the work was often lent to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Kramarsky's family put the painting up for auction in 1990.
The painting became famous on May 15, 1990, when Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito paid $82.5 million for it at auction in Christie's, New York; this made it the most expensive painting at the time (it has since been surpassed by Picasso's Garçon à la pipe in 2004). Ryoei Saito, who died in 1996, had caused a scandal when he threatened to have the van Gogh painting cremated with him after his death. Saito, 75 years old at the time, the honorary chairman of Daishowa Paper Manufacturing Co., later stated: "What I really wanted to [express] was my wish to preserve the paintings forever." Saito, his aides explained, was using a figure of speech: threatening to torch the oils was just an expression of intense affection for the masterpieces. Later Saito said he would consider giving the paintings to his government or a museum. The whereabouts of the first version are currently unknown. The second version of the portrait is currently in Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.
The story is the subject of a book, Portrait of Dr. Gachet: The Story of a van Gogh Masterpiece, Money, Politics, Collectors, Greed, and Loss, by Cynthia Saltzman.
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