Paris (AFP)

One of the rare paintings by Van Gogh from the Parisian period as well as works by Picasso, Hockney, Munch are at the heart of a long-awaited double sale of impressionist and modern works at Sotheby's, Thursday, in Paris and in London.

Dated 1887, painted during the two short years that Vincent van Gogh spent in Paris, "Street scene in Montmartre" represents the Pepper Mill, one of the mills of the Galette, behind palisades, against a background of sky. winter blue-gray.

In the foreground, a couple are walking and two children are playing.

It will be sold by video by Sotheby's teams mobilized in Paris, New York, Hong Kong and London.

Estimated between 5 and 8 million euros, this painting could reach larger amounts, given the immense interest in Van Gogh.

The Dutch painter's last work, auctioned off, "Plowman in a Field" (1889), reached $ 81 million in 2017 at Christie's in New York.

In his itinerary, the painting auctioned on Thursday marks a turning point, an expressionist beginning with a use of color aimed at creating an impression beyond the transcription of reality.

It was listed in catalogs (in black and white photos), but had never appeared since it was acquired by a French family around 1920.

In addition, during this exceptional sales session, will also be presented in Paris a pastel "Dancer" by Edgar Degas, a rare Francis Picabia, "The Matador in the arena", and a work by Camille Pissarro, "La Récolte des Pois "commissioned by Theo Van Gogh and recently returned to the heirs of Jewish collector Simon Bauer.

In London, is offered for sale a portrait by Picasso dating from 1941 of the photographer Dora Maar, whom he represented, seated in an armchair.

The painting is estimated at between 6.5 and 8.5 million pounds, as is a triptych in spring tones by Briton David Hockney, one of the most expensive living artists in the world.

With a width of four meters, this work was produced by drawing inspiration from the Dutch master Meindert Hobbema.

Also for sale, two paintings by the Norwegian Edvard Munch, the painter of the "Scream": a rare self-portrait from 1926 and a beach scene "Embrace on the beach", which Hermann Göring would have briefly hung on his office wall, although Munch is one of the artists ostracized by the Nazi regime.

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