The ten most expensive Vincent van Gogh paintings

Van Gogh’s pictures only occasionally come onto the market and, not surprisingly, they fetch huge sums. The odd one is sold privately through a dealer, usually very discreetly—but in a typical year less than a handful are publicly auctioned. Here we record the ten most expensive Van Gogh paintings that have sold at auction, all at over $50m.

10. Fields near Les Alpilles, $52m, 2022

Fields near Les Alpilles (November 1889) is the tenth most expensive Van Gogh to be auctioned, selling for $52m. This landscape was painted beneath the Les Alpilles, a few minutes’ walk from the asylum outside Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, where Van Gogh lived for a year in 1889-90. In the early 2000s the painting was owned by the couturier Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé.

9. Landscape under Stormy Sky, $54m, 2015

Landscape under Stormy Sky was painted in Arles after Van Gogh had mutilated his ear and just a few weeks before his departure for the asylum. The meadow is full of springtime flowers with a strolling couple on the left side, set under a dramatic sky. The picture fetched $54m in 2015.

8. Irises, $54m, 1987

Irises (May 1889), which was probably the first painting done by Van Gogh at the asylum, has had an unusually chequered recent history. In 1987 it sold at Sotheby’s for $54m ($150m in today’s money), going to the Australian businessman Alan Bond. He faced financial problems and was unable to pay, so ownership remained with the auction house.

In 1990 Sotheby’s then sold the Irises to the J. Paul Getty Museum in California in a private deal. Although the price paid by the museum has never been disclosed, it was probably around the auction sum. It is now among the highlights of the Getty’s collection.

7. Poppies and Daisies, $62m, 2014

Poppies and Daisies is a dramatic and colourful still life, completed just a few weeks before the artist’s suicide in Auvers-sur-Oise. It sold for $62m, going to the Chinese entertainment company owner Wang Zhongjun.

Wang is also an amateur artist who enjoys painting flower still lifes. After the auction he commented that the final sum was “slightly lower than I expected”. Wang’s purchase is another indication of how the Van Gogh market has shifted dramatically in the past few years—from North America and Europe to East Asia (China, Hong Kong and South Korea). It is believed that ownership may now reside with other Chinese buyers.

6. The Avenue of Les Alyscamps, $66m, 2015

The Avenue of Les Alyscamps was painted in Arles, a few days after the arrival of Van Gogh’s friend Paul Gauguin, who also painted the scene close by. In 2003 the Van Gogh landscape had sold at Christie’s for $12m, but when it returned to auction in 2015 an anonymous buyer paid $66m—more than five times as much. It too is believed to have gone to a Chinese collector.

5. Wooden Cabins among the Olive Trees and Cypresses, $71m, 2021

Wooden Cabins among the Olive Trees and Cypresses went for $71m in 2021. A striking and little known landscape painting, it was done in the countryside outside the asylum. It went to Hugo Nathan, of the London art advisors Beaumont Nathan, for an unnamed private client.

4. Self-portrait without a Beard, $72m, 1998

Self-portrait without a Beard soared to $72m (in today’s money $140m) when it was auctioned back in 1998. Van Gogh’s self-portraits are highly prized and only two others remain in private hands. This one was particularly personal for Vincent, since he painted it in the asylum as a gift to his mother for her 70th birthday. It is believed to be hidden away in a very private European collection.

3. Labourer in a Field, $81m, 2017

Labourer in a Field sold for $81m in 2017. Also painted in the asylum, it was inspired by the view from Van Gogh's bedroom. A ploughman is at work, set beneath one of the artist’s powerful suns. Like most Van Goghs that come onto the market, this too sold to an anonymous buyer.

2. Portrait of Dr Paul Gachet, $83m, 1990

Portrait of Dr Paul Gachet held the record as the most expensive Van Gogh for over 30 years. As long ago as 1990 it fetched $83m at Christie’s, then the highest auction price for a work by any artist. With inflation, this would be equivalent to $200m today. In real terms, this means it remains the most expensive Van Gogh.

So why did it make the record price? It is undoubtedly among Van Gogh’s finest portraits. Dr Gachet was a key figure in Vincent’s life, caring for him after the artist shot himself in Auvers-sur-Oise, so the identity of the sitter adds greatly to its interest.

In 1990 Portrait of Dr Paul Gachet went to a Tokyo buyer—at a time when Japanese collectors were feverishly competing over the big names of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. It was bought by the businessman Ryoei Saito, who later claimed that he wanted the painting to be cremated with his body. Fortunately, this did not occur on his death in 1996, and instead the Van Gogh was sold privately to Wolfgang Flöttl, an Austrian investment manager. After he faced financial problems the portrait changed hands again and is now owned by an extremely secretive European billionaire.

1. Orchard with Cypresses, $117m, 2022

In 2022 Orchard with Cypresses sold at Christie’s, New York for $117m, coming from the collection of Microsoft co-founder, the late Paul Allen. It is one of the series of spring blossom paintings which Van Gogh made soon after his arrival in Arles. It now stands as a record price for a Van Gogh painting, until the next great masterpiece comes along.

And not forgetting Sunflowers, $40m, 1987

Missing from the top ten is Sunflowers, which sold in 1987, when the boom in art prices was just beginning. It is one of seven still lifes of sunflowers that Van Gogh painted in Arles. This one is his own copy of the original version with a yellow background which is now at London’s National Gallery.

When it came up at Christie’s in 1987, the £24m ($40m) paid was three times more than any artwork had ever fetched at auction ($110m in today’s money). It was also the first time the record price for a work of art had been for a Modern picture, rather than an Old Master. The buyer was the Tokyo-based Yasuda insurance company. The firm was later taken over by the Sompo company and the Van Gogh is now the star attraction at the Sompo Museum of Art.

Sunflowers has proved to be an astonishing investment. If it ever came onto the market again, it would certainly be worth several hundred million dollars.

A number of Van Goghs have been sold privately for prices in the same range as those that went to auction. These include a Portrait of Joseph Roulin (January 1889), acquired by New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1989; a version of Wheatfield with Cypresses (June 1889), acquired by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1993; and Girl against a Background of Wheat (June 1890), bought by casino boss Steve Wynn in 1999 and now owned by hedge fund manager Steven Cohen.

Significantly, all the works covered in our survey were painted in the last two years or so of Van Gogh’s life, when he was working in Provence or the village of Auvers-sur-Oise outside Paris. It is these late pictures that fetch the mega sums. And the top ten were all sold in New York, an indication that the main demand has shifted away from Europe.

But times are changing, and the market is moving again. In 2021 Sotheby’s sold Still life: Vase with Gladioli (August-September 1886) in Hong Kong. It went for HKD 71 ($9m), probably going to a Chinese buyer. It now seems that half of all Van Gogh painting sales are to the Far East.

Martin Bailey is a leading Van Gogh specialist and special correspondent for The Art Newspaper. He has curated exhibitions at the Barbican Art Gallery, Compton Verney/National Gallery of Scotland and Tate Britain.

To contact Martin Bailey, please email vangogh@theartnewspaper.com