In the late 1980s, the van Gogh painting “Irises” was purchased at auction for the astronomical, record-breaking sum of $80 million. This was a historical event in the art market. Yet how could this come to pass?

As Dr. Chen’s image reveals, the painting is unfinished. Van Gogh, dressed as an artist from Holland, is seated in a sunny Arles garden, still adding dazzling, pure strokes of color to the canvas. We do not see his face, hinting perhaps that the nature of the artist is less significant than the nature of the art. Indeed, the greatest artist of all is obscured from human vision, but with a divine hand, continues to add strokes of color to the canvas known as Earth.

Icon Sources:

Van Gogh: "Irises" 1889, Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Van Gogh: "Flowering Garden" 1889, private collection

Vermeer: "Atelier" c.1660, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna