In early 1886 , a near - pennilessVincent van Goghleft Belgium andmovedin with his sidekick , Theo , in Montmartre , Paris . While there , he rubbed elbow with the Impressionists and other direct avant - garde artists of the era , who influence his own painting style . So too did Montmartre — a spirited , societal place setting that called for much more color than the severe , work - worn residential district thatThe Starry Nightpainter had depict in the past tense .
During his two years living with Theo , van Goghproduced many painting that featured Montmartre ’s inoperative wind generator , which then played host to nightspot - departer and other leisure - seekers ( an atmosphere conversant to anyone who ’s seen 2001’sMoulin Rouge ! ) . Most of these nontextual matter have been seen in public by now , but one has remained in the secret ingathering of a Gallic family for about 100 years . Scène de rue à Montmartre , orStreet Scene in Montmartre , was painted in spring 1887 and shows a couple and two youngster ambling past the incoming to the Pepper Mill .
Now , asSmithsonianmagazinereports , the nontextual matter is finally get going on display for the first time in history . The exhibition wo n’t last very long : thepaintingis in Amsterdam until March 3 , after which it ’ll move around to Hong Kong for a few days before returning to Paris for two more viewings . Then , on March 25 , Sotheby ’s and Paris - based auction sale house Mirabaud Mercier will put it up forauction — where it ’s judge to get somewhere between $ 6 million and $ 9.7 million .
“ Very few paintings from van Gogh ’s Montmartre period rest in private hand , with most of the series now held in prestigious museum collections around the world , ” Aurélie Vandevoorde and Etienne Hellman , senior directors of Sotheby ’s Impressionist and Modern Art Department in France , said in a press discharge [ PDF ] . “ The show on the market of a study of this caliber and from such an iconic serial is undoubtedly a major event , and indeed opportunity , for both accumulator of the creative person and the artistic production grocery store more widely . ”
[ h / tSmithsonian ]
