Vincent Van Gogh is once again shining on the art market with his work \u2018Les canots amarr\u00e9s\u2019, which will be auctioned for the first time in 30 years at Christie’s Hong Kong. The masterpiece, which captures the summer calm of Asni\u00e8res, could become the most expensive painting of the Dutch genius’s Parisian era, with an estimated price between 230 million and 380 million Hong Kong dollars (around $30 million to $50 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For decades, the painting has been part of the estate of the Royal Family of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a dynasty with roots stretching from Sicily to southern Italy. Originally acquired in 1991 at Sotheby’s London by the Italian actress Edy Vessel, today the piece belongs to her daughter, Princess Camilla, who puts it into play through a family trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Les canots amarr\u00e9s\u2019 is part of a triptych that Van Gogh painted during his two-year stay in France, encapsulating the effervescence of nature in the midst of expanding industrial France. With his characteristic dreamlike touch, Van Gogh transports us to a summer scene bathed in warm light, a signature style that anticipates the glory of his most renowned works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The painting could break records, surpassing the current most expensive Western work ever sold in Asia: Jean-Michel Basquiat’s \u2018Warrior\u2019, which fetched 323.6 million Hong Kong dollars ($41.7 million) in 2021. And, as \u2018Les canots amarr\u00e9s\u2019 warms up, Claude Monet’s \u2018Nymph\u00e9as\u2019, valued at between HK$200 million and HK$280 million ($25 million to $35 million), promises to be the other major highlight of the event, leading up to the opening of Christie’s new headquarters at The Henderson on 26 September 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n