Vincent van Gogh’s “ street scene in Montmartre ” unveiled to the public

“Scene de rue à Montmartre” was painted in the spring of 1887, three years before the Dutch master died by suicide.

It shows Parisians walking through a rural and sparse landscape of Montmartre, a historic district that is today one of the city’s most popular destinations.

The painting is expected to be exhibited to the public for the first time, before being sold at auction in Paris. He is expected to bring in between € 5million and € 8million ($ 6million and $ 9.7million) when he goes under the hammer in March.

“The moment we first laid eyes on this painting, we were immediately captivated,” said Claudia Mercier and Fabien Mirabaud from the Parisian auction house Mirabaud Mercier, who discovered the work.

“It is with great pleasure that we can now present this to the world, having been cherished by the same French family for a century,” they said in a statement.

The painting is part of a series of works representing the famous Moulin de la Galette, a windmill transformed into a dance hall in Montmartre. The area is still popular with tourists and locals alike for its village feel, but the surrounding streets have been built up and no longer look like the scene in the painting.

The painting is expected to bring in nearly $ 10 million. Credit: Sotheby’s / ArtDigital Studio

Sotheby’s said the painting provided a portal to Montmartre at the end of the 19th century, when obsolete mills became tourist attractions and places of leisure where Parisians gathered to drink, dance and relax.

“Very few paintings from Van Gogh’s Montmartre period remain in private hands, most of the series now being held in prestigious museum collections around the world,” said Aurélie Vandevoorde and Etienne Hellman, senior directors of the Art department Impressionist and Modern from Sotheby’s France, which manages the sale, in a statement.

“The appearance on the market of a work of this caliber and of such an iconic series is undoubtedly a major event, even an opportunity, both for the artist’s collectors and for the more art market. widely.”

The painting will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in Paris on March 25. Before that, it will be on public display in Amsterdam and Hong Kong before traveling to France.