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It is often said that Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime, The Red Vineyard. In fact that is just his best-documented sale: the Van Gogh Museum lists several others, and he also traded many works with fellow artists.

Van Gogh Museum

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The Red Vineyard, painted in Arles in November 1888, was shown at the exhibition of Les XX, an avant-garde artists' group in Brussels, in early 1890. The Belgian painter Anna Boch, sister of Van Gogh's friend Eugène Boch, bought it for 400 francs; it now hangs in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. The Van Gogh Museum names other sales too. His first commission came from his uncle Cor, an art dealer, who ordered 19 views of The Hague to help him get started. The Paris paint and art dealer Julien Tanguy bought a painting, and his brother Theo sold another work to a gallery in London. Van Gogh also often swapped work with other artists and, when he was younger, for food or painting supplies. Exactly how many works he sold is not known. He died in July 1890, a few months after the Brussels sale.

Türkçe oku
Van Gogh'un hayattayken yalnızca bir tablo sattığı, onun da “Kırmızı Üzüm Bağı” olduğu sık sık söylenir. Oysa bu, satışlarının sadece en iyi belgelenenidir. Van Gogh Müzesi başka satışlar da sayar; ressam ayrıca pek çok eserini başka sanatçılarla takas etti.

“Kırmızı Üzüm Bağı” Kasım 1888'de Arles'da yapıldı ve 1890'ın başında Brüksel'de, öncü sanatçılar topluluğu Les XX'in (Yirmiler) sergisinde gösterildi. Tabloyu, Van Gogh'un arkadaşı Eugène Boch'un kız kardeşi olan Belçikalı ressam Anna Boch 400 franka satın aldı; eser bugün Moskova'daki Puşkin Müzesi'ndedir. Van Gogh Müzesi başka satışlardan da söz eder. Ressamın ilk siparişi, sanat taciri olan amcası Cor'dan geldi: Yeğenine destek olmak isteyen Cor, ondan 19 Lahey manzarası istedi. Parisli boya ve sanat taciri Julien Tanguy bir tablosunu satın aldı, kardeşi Theo da bir eserini Londra'daki bir galeriye sattı. Van Gogh başka ressamlarla sık sık eser takas etti; gençlik yıllarında resimlerini çoğu zaman yiyecek ya da boya malzemesi karşılığında verdi. Kaç eser sattığı tam olarak bilinmiyor. Van Gogh, Brüksel'deki satıştan birkaç ay sonra, Temmuz 1890'da öldü.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Vincent van Gogh
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