Rusty handgun ‘Van Gogh used to kill himself’ sells at auction for £140,000
The rusted revolver that Vincent Van Gogh is thought to have killed himself with has sold today for £140,000.
The gun, a 7mm Lefaucheux was offered by AuctionArt at an auction in Paris earlier this week.
The dutch artist committed suicide in France in 1890, shooting himself in the chest after years of mental anguish.
The firearm is described by AuctionArt as "the most famous weapon in the history of art."
The final selling price was significantly higher than the pre-auction estimate of $60,000 (around £53,000).
"Its a very emblematic piece," said auctioneer Gregoire Veyres.
"The fact that it's a gun, it's an object of death. And if Van Gogh is Van Gogh, it's because of his suicide and this gun is part of it."
Van Gogh suffered bouts of psychosis and deep depression throughout his life, with his torment often infusing his art, whether intensely painted self portraits or other notable works including The Starry Night and Sunflowers.
NOTORIOUS
He is also notorious for having chopped off part of his own left ear with a razor blade during an argument with fellow artist Paul Gauguin.
Van Gogh died at Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris in July 1890, aged just 37, more than two days after shooting himself in the chest in a wheat field where he had previously painted.
After failing to kill himself instantly, he stumbled back to the inn where he was staying and was looked after by the innkeeper, Arthur Ravoux, and his daughter Adeline, who was 13 at the time and recounted the events more than 60 years later.
"I have tried to kill myself," Van Gogh is reputed to have told Ravoux. The artist had spent more than two months at the inn, producing a whirlwind of some 80 paintings in what would be his final, distraught flurry of creativity.
FAMILY HEIRLOOM
AuctionArt said they couldn't be completely certain it was the exact gun the painter used to end his troubled life, it pointed to "several pieces of evidence (that) show it must be Van Gogh's suicide gun."
"It was discovered where Van Gogh shot it; its caliber is the same as the bullet retrieved from the artist's body as described by the doctor at the time; (and) scientific studies demonstrate that the gun had stayed in the ground since the 1890s,"
The farmer who found the gun in the village where the artist died in 1965 gave the weapon to the owners of the village inn.
The revolver was passed down through the inn owner's family, eventually being put up for auction this week.
The antique weapon had previously been on display at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
The auction house has not named winning bidder.
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