Mixed media on paper. Dutch Post-Impressionist School. Featuring a portrait of a housekeeper. Signed Vincent on the lower left corner. Stamped on verso. Style of Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890). 31 x 20 cm (12.2 x 7.9 inches). PROVENANCE: Private estate (Perugia, Italy)

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was a Dutch painter who is among the best-known artists in history. His expressive depictions of street scenes, sunflowers, and portraits feature vivid palettes and lively brushwork, as seen in his seminal work Starry Night (1889). “Instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I see before me, I make more arbitrary use of color to express myself more forcefully,” he once said. Born on March 30, 1853 in Zundert, Netherlands, he worked as an art dealer at the firm Goupil & Cie in both London and Paris as a young man. Disillusioned with his life and destitute after leaving the firm, he returned to his family and took up drawing. His brother Theo van Gogh helped him get a studio in The Hague and paid for painting classes with Anton Mauve. It was Mauve that introduced Van Gogh to the work of Jean-François Millet. It was Millet’s paintings of peasants that led the artist to move to the village of Nuenen, Netherlands, where he portrayed the farmers and laborers in dark Rembrandt-like tones. In 1886, he moved to Paris, where he relied on his brother for both emotional and financial support. In Paris, Van Gogh was introduced to Impressionism and soon lightened his palette and adopted many of the stylizations found in Japanese wood-block prints. In the fall of 1888, he spent 9 weeks living in the small Provençal town of Arles with the painter Paul Gauguin. It was during this period that Van Gogh infamously cut off his own ear in a fit of mental anguish. A prolific painter, he produced over 2,100 works in little more than a decade. Van Gogh died at the age of 37 on July 29, 1890 in Auvers-sur-Oise, France from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Today, his works are featured in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam which is entirely dedicated to his oeuvre.

All lots that do not carry established documented provenance nor any past record of auction history record are described in the catalog as attributed .

All authorship of items in this catalog are described according to the following terms:

Signed [Artist Name] : In cases in which the signature is legible in the lot, this work is described as-is with no attributions given.

By [Artist Name] : The work is by the artist.

Attributed to [Artist Name] : The work may be ascribed to the artist on the basis of style, but there may be some question as to actual authorship.

In the manner of [Artist Name] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but was designed deliberately to emulate the style of the artist.

After [Artist Name] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but is a deliberate copy of a known work by the artist.

Circle of [Artist Name] : A work of the period of the artist showing his influence, closely associated with the artist but not necessarily his pupil.

Follower of [Artist Name]: A work by a pupil or a follower of the artist (not necessarily a pupil).

American, 19th century : This work was executed by an unknown hand, and can only be identified by origin (i.e., region, period).