A work of art sometimes not only can be a visual delight to its viewers, but it can also be a treasure chest filled with intriguing stories of fluctuating emotional highs and lows and return on investment.Irises, 1889, by Vincent van Gogh was one of the Iris series of paintings van Gogh made within the first week of his entering the Saint Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint Remy de Provence, France, in the last year before his death in 1890.
Irises was probably influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints. The cropped composition, divided into broad areas of vivid colour with the flower overflowing the canvas borders. van Gogh carefully studied the movements and shapes of the irises in the garden of the asylum to create variety of curved silhouettes. The strong outlines and unusual angles involving close up views and flattish local colour, that clearly not modelled according to the fall of light, make the Irises a painting full of softness and lightness. It is full of life, but with tragedy.
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| Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853 - 1890) Irises, 1889, Oil on canvas 71 x 93 cm |
Irises was first bought by Julien Tanguy who is a paint grinder and art dealer. In 1892, Tanguy sold Irises to Octave Mirbeau, who was art critic and anarchist, for 300 frances. Some auction houses are enthusiastic about offering guarantees for top-quality works, especially in the two major sale categories of "Impressionist and Modern Art" and "Contemporary Art", in a strong market. In 1987, one of the internationally renowned auction houses went into an agreement with the Australian collector Allan Bond, which provided that the auction house would lend Bond the money to bid successfully for "Irises by Vincent van Gogh". Bond's successful bid was US$53.9 million. At the point in time, "Irises by Vincent van Gogh" became the most ever sold painting, a record that last for two and a half years. However, Bond was unable to pay for it and so never took possession of the work, which subsequently was sold to the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles for an undisclosed price in 1990.
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