Elizabeth Taylor Van Gogh landscape painting achieves $16m at Christie's

Christie's has completed their Impressionist and Modern art auction which featured paintings taken for the Collection of Elizabeth Taylor.

There was an enormous amount of hype about Taylor's jewellery collection - and rightly so as it smashed all kinds of records, but her art collection may have been somewhat underestimated. She was the daughter of an art dealer, so it shouldn't have been a surprise that she owned works of value.

The top lot was as expected Van Gogh's Vue de l'asile et de la Chappelle de Saint-Rémy, which achieved £10,121,250 ($15,991,575) in the evening sale.

The evocative scene, painted in autumn colours, shows the asylum where Van Gogh's life drew to a close. The painting was bought for her by her father in 1963 for £92,000, and we liked it enough to include it in our Top Five Elizabeth Taylor collectibles.

van Gogh autumn landscape Vue de l Asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Remy
Vincent van Gogh's landscape Vue de l Asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Remy

The work was certainly a favourite of Taylor herself too, and has a greater memorabilia value as it hung in the living room of her Californian home until her death in May 2011.

"As the crown jewel of her art collection, we are delighted with the price achieved for Van Gogh's 'Vue de l'asile', a profoundly beautiful work from one of creative high points of the artist's career." commented Marc Porter, Chairman of Christie's Americas

The painting was sold to an anonymous phone bidder after four minutes of keen bidding from several individuals, both present and absent.


Featured products

Elvis Presley Authentic Strand of Hair
Elvis Presley Authentic Strand of Hair
Sale price£399
In stock
Fidel Castro signed certificateFidel Castro Signed Certificate
Fidel Castro signed certificate
Sale price£2,995
In stock
King Henry VIII Autographed DocumentKing Henry VIII Autographed Document
King Henry VIII Autographed Document
Sale price£55,000
In stock