Van Gogh's Romans Parisiens (Les Livres jaunes) to Auction with $40m Estimate
Sotheby's
Vincent van Gogh's Romans Parisiens (Les Livres jaunes) in situ
One of Vincent van Gogh's finest portrayals of books will go under the hammer at Sotheby's later this year as part of the The Cindy and Jay Pritzker Collection auction with a presale estimate in the region of $40.
The sale - led by van Gogh’s still life of books Romans Parisiens (Les Livres jaunes) from 1887 - will feature masterpieces by artists including Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Wassily Kandinsky and Joan Miró before the New York auction in November.
Romans Parisiens (Les Livres jaunes) was one of only three paintings included by van Gogh in his first official exhibition. Following the encouragement of his brother Theo, it was selected for the Salon des Indépendants exhibition in Paris in 1888. Today, it is regarded among the artist’s finest still lifes, and is the largest to appear at auction since 1980.
The painting focuses on a table strewn with piles of well-thumbed books, one of which appears to have just been set down. Van Gogh was a keen reader, especially fond of authors including Charles Dickens, Émile Zola and Gustave Flaubert. Contemporary viewers would have instantly recognized the distinctive yellow paperback covers of the Parisian publisher Charpentier, known for its inexpensive, mass-market editions of popular French novels.
After passing down through three generations of the van Gogh family, the painting last appeared at auction in 1988 and has since been exhibited around the world. Romans Parisiens hung in the Pritzkers’ library at home.
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Sotheby's
Cindy and Jay Pritzker
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Sotheby's
Romans Parisiens
“This is the finest still life to appear on the market in decades," said Helena Newman, Chairman, Impressionist and Modern Art Worldwide and Chairman Sotheby's Europe, "Romans Parisiens is among the most intellectually and emotionally revealing of van Gogh’s still lifes, encapsulating his passions for literature, for color, and for the restless pursuit of new ideas.”
Cindy and Jay Pritzker played an influential part in Chicago’s cultural life. Together they created the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1979. Cindy was also President of the Chicago Public Library Board and founding chair of the Library Foundation, overseeing the development of the Harold Washington Library Center, as well as a driving force behind the city’s Millenium Park and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion designed by Frank Gehry.
