An unidentified buyer has purchased Vincent Van Gogh's L'Allée des Alyscamps for $66.3 million, making it the second most expensive Van Gogh painting ever purchased.
Normally, high-level bidders prefer to bid through the comfortable privacy of their phones, speaking to a Sotheby's representative to place their bids. But Tuesday night's Sotheby's Impressionist and modern art auction in New York City saw the mystery man dressed casually in a hooded jacket and jeans, a huge divergence from the usual business attire worn at upscale art auctions such as this. A Japanese deal tells Artnet News that the bidder, who was heard talking in Chinese but denied being Chinese, was sitting halfway back in the room.
"I haven't seen that happen in a long time," says Frances Beatty, a dealer at Richard Feigen & Co. "Buyers at these sales tend to be more discreet."
