Van Gogh's Two Lovers

Van Gogh's depiction of two lovers was cut out of a larger landscape painting and the cutting is now for sale.

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Auction

This painting was put to auction at Sotheby's in London on March 2nd. It was estimated to sell for 7-10 million pound. The piece has had four recorded owners, each paying a hefty price for the piece, before the most recent owner decided to sell it anonymously through Sotheby's.

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Origin of the Piece

This piece was first created on March 18th 1888. Vincent Van Goh sketched a piece which was going to be included in a letter sent to his friend Emile Bernard. The piece was a sketch of a landscape view of the canal which runs between the Arles and the Mediterranean with a large sun setting in the background. The two lovers are in the middle towards the bottom of the sketch with the Langlois drawbridge a ways in front of them. To the right there are some smoking chimneys and a church tower. 136

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The Cut

Van Gogh was dissatisfied with the outcome of the piece as he was unable to complete it outside because the weather changed. Van Gogh was forced inside and had to use his imagination to finish the painting. He envisioned the piece would have colors like stained glass but he abandoned the painting. He cut a 13 inch rectangle from the painting and kept it to study in the future. He threw the rest of the painting away. Van Gogh started another piece depicting the same scene, but this time with no people and the weather was different causing the colors to change to grays and dull hues.

This piece was titled "The Langlois Bridge" completed in March 1888.

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