Van Gogh found at flea market

Reuters ^ | Thursday, December 11, 2003

[djf]

There was that lady that bought a lampshade at a garage sale for twenty five cents...

A Tiffany lampshade...

Worth multiple hundred of thousands of dollars.

[Taliesan]

Who pays $1800 for a painting at a flea market?

A gentleman and a scholar.

[sistergoldenhair]

Who pays $1800 for a painting at a flea market?

Who prices a flea market item at $1800?

[eleni121]

What a sad commentary on war.

The fact is that thousands of historic and religious sites have been vandalized and destroyed deliberately. At least this bombing was done in error and I assume in the Second WW when the US was fighting and dying to rescue western Europe.

[bannie]

I paid $2 at Goodwill for a rare Hummel.

Congratulations to me! That was my one and only "lottery" win.

[lonevoice]

Thanks for posting the painting. It's lovely.

[vikingchick]

Ha! That's nothing. I bought a clown painting at a thrift shop with an authentic, original Woolworth's sticker for $1.49 still affixed on the back.

Now that's a find.

[Aquinasfan]

His art belongs in the flea market along with Picasso's and many, many others'.

[DoctorMichael]

I've been to the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Amazing stuff.

Vincent Bump.

[BlessedBeGod]

That's pretty, whether he did it or not.

[Sam Cree]

Do you happen to know what Van Gogh's brother died of, and why he died so relatively quickly after Van Gogh?

I believe they are buried next to each other.

[stlnative]

If I remember correctly they showcased this on Antiques Roadshow not too long ago (of course it was a repeat show from a few years back, which was rebroadcast recently).

[July 4th]

I think "flea market" may have a different meaning here. I went to one in France that was held in a covered market place, kind of like an open air mall, and all of the sellers had established stalls, etc. Definitely not like something that gets held in a field in the summer time.

[LaraCroft]

"Who pays $1800 for a painting at a flea market"

A very very smart person.

[blam]

Starry, starry night.
Paint your palette blue and grey,
Look out on a summer's day,
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.

Shadows on the hills,
Sketch the trees and the daffodils,
Catch the breeze and the winter chills,
In colors on the snowy linen land.

Now I understand what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they did not know how.
Perhaps they'll listen now.

Starry, starry night.
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze, Reflect in Vincent's eyes of China blue.
Colors changing hue, morning field of amber grain,
Weathered faces lined in pain,
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.

Now I understand what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they did not know how.
Perhaps they'll listen now.

For they could not love you,
But still your love was true.
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night,
You took your life, as lovers often do.
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you.

Starry, starry night.
Portraits hung in empty halls,
Frameless head on nameless walls,
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget.
Like the strangers that you've met,
The ragged men in the ragged clothes,
The silver thorn of bloody rose,
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow.

Now I think I know what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
How you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they're not listening still.
Perhaps they never will.

Don McLean

[blam]

[deport]

Someone who knows that it is really worth much more than that.

---

But who asked that much in the beginning for a small painting on a piece of wood? Was it something special to be priced that high if no one knew of it's true value?

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

Well, first it is an absolutely gorgeous piece of work. I'm sure that the owner knew that it was at least a very old piece and if it had been passed down in good condition (oil on wood is easily damaged, especially in France through two world wars) I could see a small art market pricing something like this for a thousand or two hoping to snag the odd eccentric looking for a nice piece of art. Sadly, they sold way below market value.

[rintense]

Sheesh. His perspective is way off.

[fish hawk]

  VINCENT

Vincent, are you painting stars
to cover up your inner scars
and do you paint sunflowers bright
to help you through a lonely night
and do you paint your upstairs room
to lighten up that sullen tomb
and was not Theo's love enough
to carry you when times were tough
was a brush and palette knife
too big a burden for this life
the beauty you created lives
I wish you knew how much it gives
on every canvas lives your soul
your vibrant colors do console
quite immortal, now it seems
so far beyond your wildest dreams
the world loves you, Vincent, now
and your textured treasures they endow
                      by Fish Hawk