
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 16, 1990                   TAG: 9005160603
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/7   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

VAN GOGH AUCTIONS AT $82 MILLION

Vincent van Gogh's melancholy portrait of the doctor who treated him in the weeks before his suicide sold at auction for $82.5 million, making it by far the most expensive painting in the world.

The sale Tuesday of "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" came after a 10-minute bidding war at Christie's auction house between two buyers who jacked up the price in increments of $1 million.

The 26-by-22.5-inch oil was worth $141,000 per square inch to Kobayashi Gallery of Tokyo, which has emerged in recent years as a major buyer of Impressionist art.

The total surpassed the $53.9 million paid for van Gogh's "Irises" in 1987 at Sotheby's, said Susan Britman, a Christie's spokeswoman.

Explaining the astronomical price, Christie's President Christopher Burge cited the painting's good condition, its high-profile exhibitions in New York and the opinion among many that it is one of van Gogh's five best paintings.

"We may have to wait another 10 years, another 20 years for a picture of that importance," Burge said.

- Associated Press

by CNB