Van Gogh's ‘L'Allée des Alyscamps’ Bought For $66 Million In Auction By Chinese-Speaking Mystery Buyer

Van Gogh's L'allée Des Alyscamps was bought for an outrageous sum of $66.3 million contrary to its expected $40 million selling price. The collector's item is considered the biggest sales at the Sotheby's Impressionist and modern art evening sale on Tuesday.

The Van Gogh' impressionist piece is one of the successfully-sold artworks by Sotheby which reports to have gained $368 million, considered as the second-highest earnings in the auction of Modern and Impressionist Art paintings, New York Times said.

Their highest earnings still comes from last November' $422 million gross.

The sale of Van Gogh's L'allée Des Alyscamps is said to be the second highest price since the sale of "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" for $82.5 million in 1990.

"There are very few price points that tell us what this is worth. These are so rare," Mr. Simon Shaw, Sotheby's co-head of Impressionist and modern art worldwide, said in an interview.

According to Quartz, the painting is bought by a Chinese-speaking, Asian mystery buyer who does not want himself to be identified.

"He sat about halfway back in the room. In jeans and a hooded jacket, his attire was a departure from the business suit more typically worn by buyers. A Japanese dealer we spoke with after the auction said the buyer, whom he sat next to, was speaking Chinese on the phone but denied being Chinese," reports said.

The news source speculated that the buyer is from China considering that China's ongoing crackdown on corruption made their citizens gain more wealth. There were also reports that the Chinese bought 22% of all global art last year.

According to BBC, Van Gogh's L'Allee des Alyscamps was created in 1888 one month before he cut off his ear. He also maintained close associations with friend Paul Gauguin in Arles, France in these times.