Elizabeth Taylor’s Van Gogh fetches £10 million

LONDON—A painting by Vincent van Gogh owned by the late Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor has sold for more than £10 million, Christie’s auction house announced on Tuesday.

A member of staff poses with an 1889 painting by Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh entitled "Vue de l'Asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Remy" during a press preview prior to the "Impressionist and Modern Art Sale" at Christie's auction house in central London on February 2, 2012. CARL COURT / AFP PHOTO

Van Gogh’s “Vue de l’asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Remy” (“View of the Asylum and Chapel of Saint-Remy”) went under the hammer for £10.1 million ($16 million, 12 million euros), far exceeding the estimated £7 million price tag.

The painting, completed by the Dutch Impressionist in the year before his death in 1890 and bought by Elizabeth Taylor’s father in 1963, was one of the actress’s last possessions to be auctioned.

The British-American star had amassed an extraordinary collection of jewellery and couture as well as art during her glamorous life as a screen star and high-maintenance beauty by the time she died in March aged 79.

A week-long auction of her belongings in New York in December drew total sales of $156.8 million (£99 million, 118 million euros).

A work by the Spanish Cubist painter Juan Gris also sold at Christie’s on Tuesday for £10.3 million.

“Le livre” (“The Book), described by the auction house as “a key transitional work”, had been expected to sell for up to $18 million.

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