Vincent van Gogh - Irises I 2 Hours Screensaver I No Sound

$53.9 million. 1987. Van Gogh's Irises sells for a record price that shocks the art world. Except Sotheby's lent their own money to the buyer to close the deal. They manufactured the record. Then used that record to drive up everything else they were selling. Two collateral victims. The painting, now seen as "besmirched" by its own sale. And Van Gogh, the man who made 400 francs on the one canvas he officially sold in his lifetime, suddenly associated with greed and manipulation. How ironic. The Getty Museum bought it, restored it, and pulled it out of the market for good. Open to the public.