“"Van gogh (1853-90) sold hardly any paintings during his lifetime, and on his death at age 37 his paintings were deemed nearly worthless in Paris." "25 years ago, his paintings ushered in the era of strataspheric prices for leading Mondernists, with the sale of "Sunflowers" for 39.7M and "Irises" for 52.9M - at the time, three and four fold increases over the previous world record for any work of art. Not long after that, Japanese industrialist Ryoei Saito set a new mark again by paying 82.5M for "Portrait of Dr. Gachet"”
