Iris (May)

'Irises', May 1889 

 

Visiting Van Gogh this May. Evaluating the interpretation of his irises, colour of night cafés, the natural tangle of asylum gardens. Instancing his every identification with poverty, people without a centime to their names, landscapes no billionaire can separate with a wall. Qualifying those immediate perceptions with, ‘In 1987 ‘Irises’ became the most expensive painting ever sold. Then it was sold for US$53.9 million to Alan Bond, but he did not have enough money to pay for ‘Irises’. It is currently tenth on the inflation-adjusted list of most expensive paintings ever sold, 25^th if the effects of inflation are ignored.’