A Stunning Landscape by Van Gogh from 1889

Sotheby’s New York Evening Sale of Impressionist & Modern Art on 5 November 2015 will feature an exquisite group of late-19th and early-20th century masterworks assembled in the 1940s and ‘50s by Belgian collectors Louis and Evelyn Franck. The works are led by Vincent van Gogh’s Paysage sous un ciel mouvementé, a sweeping landscape view from Arles that is estimated to sell for $50/70 million. The collection also offers: Pablo Picasso’s Nu au jambes croisées, a large-scale, fullyworked pastel from his famed Blue Period (right, estimate $8/12 million); superb examples by Paul Cézanne, Kees van Dongen and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec; and the finest work by Belgian painter James Ensor ever to appear at auction.

Together, the 10 works from the Franck Collection are estimated to achieve more than $80 million in the 5 November auction. Highlights will travel to San Francisco, Taipei, Hong Kong, Brussels and London this fall, before returning to New York for exhibition opening 31 October.

Painted in April of 1889 at the height of the artist’s famed Arles period, Vincent van Gogh’s Paysage sous un ciel mouvementé is a testament to the most successful period of his career (estimate $50/70 million). Painted just one year before Van Gogh’s death, the dramatic landscape depicts the fields outside Arles in the south of France, where he lived from early 1888 through mid-1889. Its palette evokes the colors found in this new Southern climate, yet the turbulent skies foretell Van Gogh’s mental decline in the months following the work’s execution. Since 2014, only three works from Van Gogh’s mature period (1888–1890) have appeared at auction – all at Sotheby’s. Nature morte, Vase aux marguerites et coquelicots from 1890 sold in November 2014 for $61.8 million (estimate $30/50 million) to an Asian private collector. In February of 2014, an impressive 11 bidders spanning North America, South America, Europe and Asia competed for L'homme est en mer from 1889 at Sotheby’s London, driving the final price to $27.5 million (estimate $9.8/13 million). L'Allée des Alyscamps from 1888 sold in May 2014 to an Asian private collector for $66.3 million, marking the highest auction price for Van Gogh since 1998 and an auction record for any landscape by the artist.