The flowers in van Gogh’s “Irises” (1889), which was the most expensive painting sold at auction at the time when it fetched $53.9 million at Sotheby’s in 1987, were never supposed to be ...

O n May 9, 1889, the day after Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh moved into a psychiatric hospital, he began a painting of some flowers in the institution’s garden. The resulting Irises is now owned ...