The art world is waiting with baited breath for Christie's New York May 2nd Impressionist and Modern art sale, in which an exceptional Van Gogh will be auctioned.

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"It is a synthesis of the Arlésiennes, if you like; as syntheses of the Arlésiennes are rare, take this as a work belonging to you and me as a summary of our months of work together," wrote Vincent Van Gogh in a letter to Paul Gauguin in 1890 of his "L'Arlésienne, Madame Ginoux," the painting to be sold at Christie's New York on May 2nd.

The painting depicts the proprietress of a café frequented by both Van Gogh and Gauguin during their time in Arles. It has remained in the Bakwin Family Collection since its purchase in 1929 by Dr. Bakwin, an American pediatrician. It is the most important painting from a series of five oils that Van Gogh executed in 1890 in homage to Gauguin. Beyond its sheer beauty, the painting's value it's fuelled by its distinct emotional and historical dimension: it is the only painting within the series intended specifically for Gauguin himself.

"Few artists reach the stratosphere of universal recognition and admiration, and of those few, Vincent Van Gogh may very well one of the most revered," says Guy Bennett, head of Impressionist & Modern Art at Christie's New York. "His name simply is magic." Painted during a period of deep nostalgia, when the intense collaboration with Gauguin had abruptly ended and the artist was institutionalized, Van Gogh perceived the creation of these paintings as a symbolic souvenir of their Arlésienne adventures. Despite the painting's pre-sale estimate of $40 million, it could obtain a figure on par with a similar Van Gogh painting, "Portrait of Dr. Gachet," which Christie's sold in 1990 for $82.5 million.

Vincent van Gogh
"L'Arlésienne, Madame Ginoux"
Estimate upon request
Christie's New York
Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale
May 2 at 7p.m.


More info: www.christies.com