I've gotten so many offers on this painting that I've decided to auction it on e-bay! I've never sold anything on e-bay before so I'm curious to see how the experience turns out! Click here for the listing!
Here's how I'm pricing the piece: In 1873 one French franc equalled .290322581 g grams of gold. Legend has it that Vincent Van Gogh sold one painting in his lifetime, the Red Vineyard at Arles, for 400 francs, which would have equalled 116.129 grams of gold, or 4.1 ounces of gold. Today an ounce of gold costs $1835, so 4.1 ounces of gold is $7523.50. Not a bad price adjusted for inflation and given the amount of money his work auctions for nowadays quite a steal! I'm going to auction this painting on e-bay, it's just "too hot" not to! I've been getting offers and I think this is the most democratic and frankly interesting way to monetize this artwork. I'm going to float this painting on the open market and engage in a little real-world price discovery. And I'm going to be setting the auction starting bid at the cost of just a half an ounce of gold in today's prices, or $920.