![Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), ‘Scène de rue à Montmartre (Impasse des Deux Frères et le Moulin à Poivre)’ [detail], oil on canvas, painted between late February and mid-April 1887, French private collection. Photo © Sotheby's](https://images.prismic.io/barnebys/20b04fe7-3d18-4197-bc1e-0241a1880652_Cover.jpg?auto=format,compress)
In March 1886, Vincent van Gogh, who had spent three months at the art academy in Antwerp, moved to Paris with his brother Theo. Theo ran a branch of the Brussels art collection Goupil & Cie and lived in the Rue Lepic in Montmartre, in the vicinity of the famous bar Moulin de la Galette, which was a popular place for excursions and where many artists, especially the Impressionists, frequented.
Vincent van Gogh's stay in Paris, which lasted until February 1888, had an enormous impact on the painter. While there, he made the acquaintance of artists such as Paul Gauguin, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Signac and got to know the then current Impressionism movement. Driven by all the new impressions and influences, van Gogh's previously rather dark style of painting changed to the style for which he is known today.
It was in 1887 that van Gogh painted the Scène de rue à Montmartre (Impasse des Deux Frères et le Moulin à Poivre), where Moulin de la Galette is visible in the background. Behind the fence, in the middle of the picture, is Moulin Debray, also known as Moulin à Poivre, who got his name from the family that owned the mill.
Related: 6 Sensational Attic Finds
The Debray family owned the mill from 1809 and there they sold galette, a pancake baked on buckwheat flour. When the bar opened in 1830, wine was served and a dance floor was built.
Scène de rue à Montmartre is going under the hammer at Sotheby's in Paris on March 25 during their ‘Art Impressionniste et Moderne’ sale. The auction is being held together with the French auction house Mirabaud-Mercier. In a press release, Claudia Mercier and Fabien Mirabaud say, “When we saw the painting for the first time, we felt a strong emotion. We are happy to offer today on the art market this unique work, which has remained in the same family for a century.”
Related: The Top 10 Stolen Masterpieces
Aurélie Vandevoorde and Etienne Hellman, senior directors of the Impressionist and Modern Art department at Sotheby's France add, “Very few paintings from the Montmartre period are still in private hands, most of which are now kept in the most prestigious museums in the world. The presentation on the market of a painting from this iconic series will therefore undoubtedly be a major event for van Gogh collectors and for the art market in general.
Scène de rue à Montmartre, created between late February and mid-April 1887, is expected to fetch €5-8 million ($6-9.5 million)
Van Gogh left Paris in February and went to Marseilles on behalf of his brother. However, he never reached the southern French port city: he instead got off in Arles, where he painted Landscape with Snow.
Find more news from the auction world with Barnebys Magazine
