Excitement mounted Monday evening at the first fall auction at Christie’s in New York City when a Vincent van Gogh landscape went up for bid, Artnet News reported, and kept on building until “Laboureur dans un champ” finished at $72 million, plus the premium.
Bidding for the 1889 painting opened at $42 million but immediately leapt to $55 million via a telephone customer.
Bidding went back and forth until the hammer closed the deal at $72 million.
With the premium added to that figure, the final price for the painting was $81.3 million, making it the second highest auction price on record for Van Gogh, Artnet News reported.
The bidding for the Van Gogh was a highlight to the impressionist and modern sale which, according to The New York Times, raked in a total of $479.3 million.
“It was a very good sale,” said Paul Gray of the Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago.
“There was thin bidding, but they succeeded in just about everything.”
Monday evening was the first time since 1970 that the Van Gogh painting had seen an auction.
The painting signaled a momentous development for the artist, according to information on Christy’s website.
Van Gogh began painting “Laboureur dans un champ” in the final days of August 1889, a month after he was locked out of his studio by members of the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy.
The artist was admitted there following an epileptic attack that dramatically affected his body and mind and his studio was sealed off until Van Gogh returned to health.
Conor Jordan, deputy chairman, impressionist and modern art at Christie’s in New York, said the act of painting was cathartic for Van Gogh.
“It allowed him to express himself and feel his way through the emotions he was experiencing,” he said.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.