The story of one painting: where did Van Gogh’s “Portrait of Dr. Gachet” go?

Portrait of Dr Gachet for 15 years was called the most expensive canvas in the world sold at auction. For the right to own the work of Vincent van Gogh, the collector laid out $ 85 million to the auction house Christie’s.

Vincent van Gogh spent the last months of his life in France, in the small town of Auvers-sur-Oise, located not far from Paris. The health of the painter was monitored by the local doctor Paul Gachet. He unsuccessfully tried to get out of Van Gogh after a mortal wound. A few weeks before his suicide, the artist painted two almost identical portraits of Paul Gachet.

The impressionist presented the second version to Paul himself.

The canvas remained in France and after some time ended up in the Musée d’Orsay, where it is still located. But the “life path” of the first option turned out to be confusing, scandalous and intriguing. The painting was inherited and then sold to some “collector” by the painter’s sister.

In 1897, the canvas was discovered in a photograph by the artist and collector Madame Alice Ruben Faber. At the head of the bed on which the woman was lying was a work by Van Gogh. In 1910, she became an exhibit of the Post-Impressionist exhibition in London, and already in 1911 she joined the exposition of the Städel Museum. The “doctor” stayed in Frankfurt am Main until 1937, when he was confiscated by the new government of the National Socialists. Since they defined the work in the category of “degenerate art.”

Historians suggest that the Nazis in this case were not guided by ideological considerations, because the painting was not destroyed, on the contrary, a year later Hermann Goering successfully sold the work prohibited by law to an Amsterdam dealer. He, in turn, favorably placed it in the hands of a private collector, who later fled to the United States.

The Kramarski family owned the painting until 1990, then put it up for auction.

Christie’s sold the painting to Japanese tycoon Ryoei Saito, who unexpectedly announced to everyone that he intended to cremate the Impressionist work after his death. Naturally, a huge scandal arose, which was hushed up only after the assurances of the new owner about an unsuccessful joke.

The Japanese died in 1996 and the painting “Gachet” was put up for auction again. This time, the work of art was bought by Wolfgang Flötl, director of an international investment fund, who, however, did not remain happy for long. Flatl had financial problems, and he decided to sell the painting using the services of Sotheby’s. Then the painting disappeared.

Art historians have tried to find Portrait of Dr Gachet, but to no avail. According to a journalistic investigation, the painting was bought by an Italian living in Switzerland who wished to remain incognito. He already has four of the five most famous works by Vincent van Gogh in his collection.