WonderArt fact587 of 1,961

The Van Gogh Museum says we do not know exactly how many paintings he sold, but it was more than a couple. The famous "one painting" story is too simple.

Van Gogh Museum

Why it matters

The idea in context

The Van Gogh Museum notes we don't know exactly how many paintings Van Gogh sold in his life — the famous 'only one' story is likely too neat — but recognition came mostly after his death.

Türkçe

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Van Gogh Museum, onun tam olarak kaç tablo sattığını bilmediğimizi, ama bunun birkaçtan fazla olduğunu söyler. Ünlü 'tek tablo' hikâyesi fazla basittir.

Van Gogh Müzesi

Van Gogh Müzesi, Van Gogh'un yaşamı boyunca kaç tablo sattığını tam olarak bilmediğimizi belirtir — meşhur 'yalnızca bir tane' hikâyesi büyük olasılıkla fazla derli topludur — ama tanınma çoğunlukla ölümünden sonra geldi.

Source trail

Read beyond the card.

S23 Van Gogh Museum Lifetime Sales

Background reading: Vincent van GoghAttribution and context are revised when stronger evidence appears. Corrections are welcome through the editorial page.

Open in the iPhone app Editorial method

Next in the open archiveVan Gogh's The Red Vineyard is the painting most clearly known by name as sold during his lifetime, but the wider story includes commissions, trades and other sales.Q0608

The Van Gogh Museum says we do not know exactly how many paintings he sold, but it was more than a couple. The famous "one painting" story is too simple.

The idea in context

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Read beyond the card.

Keep following this thread.

Van Gogh's The Red Vineyard is the painting most clearly known by name as sold during his lifetime, but the wider story includes commissions, trades and other sales.

Britannica describes Artemisia Gentileschi as one of the first women in the West to establish herself as a successful artist. Her paintings often gave dramatic force to women heroes.

Smithsonian notes that Leonardo da Vinci, who was left-handed, used mirror writing in his notes and sketches, with the writing running in the opposite direction and letters reversed.

Van Gogh's lifetime sales story is often exaggerated, but the deeper point remains: an artist's market value and artistic value can arrive at very different speeds.

The Medici Bank helped finance a family network that shaped Florence, joining credit, diplomacy, papal business and art patronage in fifteenth-century Europe.