Portrait of Dr. Gachet
by Vincent van Gogh, 1890
Artwork Details
Details
- Year
- 1890
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 68 cm × 57 cm
Auction History
$82.5M
Christie's / New York
May 15, 1990
Seller
Siegfried Kramarsky family
Buyer
Ryoei Saito
That's 2 Beverly Hills mansions
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Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh painted this Portrait of Dr. Gachet in June 1890 at Auvers-sur-Oise, just six weeks before his death. Dr. Paul Gachet was the homeopathic physician and amateur artist who cared for Van Gogh after his release from the Saint-Rémy asylum. The portrait shows him leaning on his hand, a sprig of foxglove on the table. Foxglove provides digitalis, used to treat heart conditions.
Van Gogh created two versions. The more famous first version sold at Christie's in May 1990 for $82.5 million, then the highest price ever paid for a painting. Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito won the three-minute bidding war. He once joked about having it burned with his body when he died, though the painting was privately sold before his 1996 death. Its current location remains unclear.
The painting measures 67 by 56 centimeters. Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo that Gachet's expression captured "the heartbroken expression of our time." The blue coat against the swirling blue background creates a melancholy atmosphere that still resonates.
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About Portrait of Dr. Gachet
The first version's location is uncertain. Japanese industrialist Ryoei Saito bought it for $82.5 million in 1990. After his death in 1996, the painting's whereabouts became unclear. A second version is at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
Dr. Paul Gachet was the homeopathic physician who cared for Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise during the last months of his life. He was also an amateur artist and art collector who knew several Impressionist painters. Van Gogh painted him in June 1890, about six weeks before his own death.
Van Gogh said the portrait expressed the 'heartbroken expression of our time.' Gachet rests his head on his hand in a traditional pose of melancholy. The foxglove plant he holds was used in heart medicine. Van Gogh reportedly told his brother that the doctor seemed 'sicker than I am.'
In May 1990, it sold at Christie's for $82.5 million, setting a world record that stood for over a decade. Adjusted for inflation, it remains one of the most expensive paintings ever sold. The record-breaking price helped establish Van Gogh as a cultural icon of art market mania.
It's Post-Impressionist. Van Gogh used bold, swirling brushstrokes and intense blue tones. The emotional intensity and expressive distortion of the face go well beyond Impressionism into territory that anticipates Expressionism.
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