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A work by the painter Vincent van Gogh from his time in Paris has changed hands for over 13 million euros
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CHRISTIAN HARTMANN / REUTERS
A painting by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh was auctioned on Thursday in Paris for the record price of 13 million euros.
The work "Scène de rue à Montmartre" (street scene in Montmartre), dated 1887, was created during the artist's two-year stay in Paris, as announced by the auction house Sotheby's.
Never before has a work by Van Gogh been sold in France at such a high price.
Sotheby's and the auction house Mirabaud Mercier put the estimated value of the painting "Scène de rue à Montmartre" at five to eight million euros.
The painting depicts a street scene on Montmartre in Paris against the backdrop of the famous Moulin de la Galette windmill. The painting was created in 1887, at a time when Van Gogh was living with his brother Theo in Paris on Rue Lepic and of the atmosphere was fascinated by Montmartre.
The picture has been in the same French family since 1920, which is rare according to the auction house.
Very few paintings from Van Gogh's time in Montmartre are in private hands, it said.
Almost all of these works are now in large international museums.
The last publicly auctioned work by the Dutch painter, entitled “Laboreur dans un champ” (farm workers in a field), achieved 81 million dollars (around 69 million euros) at Christie's in New York in 2017.
mjm / dpa