You might think that the work of certain famed artists is never far from the walls of a museum or gallery. But that isn’t always the case. A 2015 report from the BBC noted that plenty of paintings in museums’ permanent collections, including work by the likes of Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso, are kept away from the public eye.
This doesn’t just apply to artists working in the 20th and 21st centuries. At Smithsonian Magazine, a new article tells the story of Vincent van Gogh’s Scène de rue à Montmartre (Impasse des Deux Frères et le Moulin à Poivre), which has remained in one family’s private collection for the last century.
The painting is now slated to be sold at auction via Sotheby’s and Mirabaud Mercier. Sotheby’s estimates that van Gogh’s work will sell for between 5 and 8 million euros (or $6 and $9.7 million).
The auction is scheduled to take place on March 25. Before then, however, the painting will be displayed in Paris, Hong Kong and Amsterdam. It dates back to van Gogh’s time working in Paris; the windmill was part of a nightclub, and the area inspired him to create several of his well-known paintings.
Depending on who purchases Scène de rue à Montmartre — which translates to “Street Scene in Montmartre” — the painting might find a home in some institution where it will be widely seen, or it could end up in private hands, not seen again in public for another century.
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