FIRST OFF . . .

The Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance Co., a Japanese insurance firm, was identified Wednesday by Christie’s as the buyer that paid a record $39.85 million at auction last month for Vincent van Gogh’s painting “Sunflowers.” “Yasuda gave us permission to identify them as the buyer after worldwide speculation about who had bought the painting rose to a fever pitch,” a spokesman for the London auctioneering firm said. The painting, the most expensive ever sold at auction, will soon be displayed in the company’s museum in Tokyo.