The critics universally respected his work. One of them said: “His presence will be assured in the museums of the future.” Another called him, “One of the uncontestable masters of our epoch.”
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany called him “One of the greatest glories of the entire world.”
He was a friend of Eugene Delacroix. “All of us will be forgotten,” Delacroix said. “But he will be remembered.”
In the 1880s, when Van Gogh was secretly hoping to sell a painting for 50 francs (about the price of a three day’s stay in Paris for a tourist), our mystery artist sold a canvas for 840,000 francs. His paintings were by far the most expensive in France in the later part of the 19th century.
Who was he? Please vote in the poll at left. Answer and results on Saturday.
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Thanks, R.K., J.M. and M.C.
