Van Goghs bring in the bucks

Three works by Dutch expressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, including a long-lost pen-and-ink sketch, sold for more than $14 million Tuesday, auction house Christie’s said.

Nearly $5.61 million was paid for “Une Liseuse de Romans,” an image of a young woman reading a book that Van Gogh painted in 1888 shortly before he suffered a breakdown and severed part of his left ear.

The pen-and-ink sketch, “La Maison de Vincent a Arles,” described by Christie’s as a “fascinating explanatory drawing with a letter on the reverse to his brother,” fetched $1.41 million.

“Nature Morte, Vase Avec Oeillets,” an oil on canvas of a vase of flowers painted in 1890, sold for $7.09 million.

From Reuters