Story Highlights
- Historical event:
- 30 March 1987
- The buyer was the Japanese businessman Yasuo Goto, an insurance tycoon. During his career Van Gogh painted about 900 paintings in total, as well as 1,100 drawings and sketches. The value of these works today reaches billions of dollars.
In 1987, on this day, the birthday of the famous painter Van Gogh, his painting Still Life – Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers was sold for what was then the record price of 39,921,750 dollars. The buyer was a Japanese businessman Yasuo Goto, the insurance tycoon.
The transaction was carried out at London auction house Christie’s. It caused a great sensation in the world, because the price exceeded the one of the previously sold most expensive painting (Mantegna’s Adoration of the Magi) four times.
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers is today located in the Seiji Togo Yasuda Memorial Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. It is interesting that he did not paint only one painting on the theme of sunflowers – there exist more than a dozen of “Van Gogh’s Sunflowers”.
According to legend, Van Gogh managed to sell only one of his paintings during his life. During his career he painted about 900 paintings and also 1,100 drawings and sketches in total. The value of these works today reaches billions of dollars.
