Portrait of Dr. Gachet Auction History

The Musée d’Orsay version of Portrait of Dr. Gachet (F754) has no auction history. Kept by Dr. Paul Gachet and his children, it was donated to the French State in 1949 and is now inalienable public property at the Musée d’Orsay. Record-breaking prices often cited relate to the different first version (F753), not this painting.

Artwork

Portrait of Dr. Gachet

Artist

Vincent van Gogh

Best-known sale or transfer

No public sale (donated in 1949)

Sale type

No known public sale

Current location / owner

Musée d’Orsay, Paris

Auction and Ownership Timeline

1890

Painted in Auvers-sur-Oise

Auvers-sur-Oise, France

Van Gogh painted Portrait of Dr. Gachet during his final months; the sitter is Dr. Paul Gachet [1].

1890

In the sitter’s collection

Auvers-sur-Oise, France

Upon completion, the painting was in the collection of the sitter, Dr. Paul Gachet, at Auvers-sur-Oise [1].

1909

With the Gachet children

France

By 1909, the work was held by Paul and Marguerite Gachet, the sitter’s children, who kept it until 1949 [1].

1949-05-05

Donated to the French State

Paris

Paul and Marguerite Gachet donated the painting to the French State for the Musée du Jeu de Paume; acceptance by decree dated 5 May 1949 (following a 28 April 1949 committee decision) [1].

1949

Assigned to the Louvre (Jeu de Paume)

Paris

Following the donation, the work was assigned to the Musée du Louvre and shown at the Musée du Jeu de Paume [1].

1986

Transferred to Musée d’Orsay

Musée d’Orsay, Paris

The painting was assigned to the Musée d’Orsay (accession RF 1949 16), where it remains in the national collection [1].

1990-05-15

Record sale of the first version (F753)

$82,500,000 · Christie’s, New York

Not this painting: Van Gogh’s first version of Portrait of Dr. Gachet (F753) sold at Christie’s New York for $82.5 million, a world auction record at the time [4].

Provenance and Ownership

1890: Painted by Vincent van Gogh and retained by the sitter, Dr. Paul Gachet, in Auvers-sur-Oise [1].

By 1909–1949: In the collection of Paul and Marguerite Gachet (the sitter’s children) [1].

1949: Donated by Paul and Marguerite Gachet to the French State for the Musée du Jeu de Paume; accepted by decree on 5 May 1949. Subsequently assigned to the Musée du Louvre (displayed at the Jeu de Paume) [1]. The donation formed part of a broader program through which major works from the Gachet collection entered French public collections [2].

1986–present: Assigned to and held by the Musée d’Orsay, Paris (RF 1949 16). As property of the French State in a Musée de France, the work is inalienable under Article L451‑5 of the Code du patrimoine [1][3].

Why This Sale Matters

This Musée d’Orsay version of Portrait of Dr. Gachet (F754) has never entered the art market. It remained with Dr. Paul Gachet and then with his children until a 1949 donation to the French State; today it resides at the Musée d’Orsay and, as part of a French national collection, is inalienable by law [1][3]. The Gachet family’s postwar donations were a landmark moment for public access to Impressionist and Post‑Impressionist masterpieces in France [2].

Market conversations about Dr. Gachet typically refer to the first autograph version (F753), which is a separate painting. On 15 May 1990 that version sold at Christie’s New York for $82.5 million, setting a world auction record and emblematising the late‑1980s/early‑1990s boom [4]. The buyer’s subsequent handling of the work led to its disappearance from public view, and its current whereabouts are uncertain, adding to its aura and the mythology surrounding the title [5].

While the Orsay picture is not market‑active, the broader Van Gogh market remains among the most robust. Benchmarks include the 2022 sale of Orchard with Cypresses for $117.2 million, the artist’s current auction record [6], and the 1998 sale of Self‑Portrait without Beard around $71.5 million [7]. These figures underscore Van Gogh’s enduring demand but are not directly comparable to the Orsay Dr. Gachet, which is both publicly owned and legally non‑transferable. For scholars and collectors, its significance lies in its exemplary provenance, continuous museum care, and its role as the counterpart to one of the most storied auction results in history [1][4].