A rare painting by Vincent Van Gogh was being put up for auction Thursday by Sotheby’s Paris and is expected to sell for many millions.
The sale of the work is highly anticipated as it is one of the few paintings by the Dutch Impressionist master to still be in private hands. Sotheby’s said the “Street Scene in Montmartre” has remained in the same family collection for more than 100 years — out of the public eye.
It depicts a windmill named the Pepper Mill, seen from the street under a bright sky, with a man, a women and a little girl walking in front of wooden palisades that surrounded the place.
It was painted in 1887, one year after Van Gogh moved to Paris and lived in Montmartre. He left the capital in 1888 for southern France where he lived until his death in 1890.
It is among over 30 works that were being sold by Sotheby’s on Thursday from masters including Modigliani, Rodin Camille Claudel, Degas Klee and Magritte.
