Meet the Specialists

By Helena Newman
Chairman, Sotheby’s Europe; Chairman, Impressionist and Modern Art Worldwide

Vincent van Gogh was an artist steeped in the literary life of Paris at the end of the 19th century. He read voraciously and corresponded endlessly. His still lifes—a genre he revolutionized—are more than studies of objects; they’re emotional and intellectual self-portraits. The open book in the foreground of this exceptional 1887 painting, surrounded by French novels of the day in their iconic thick yellow bindings, serves as an invitation into his inner world. “Romans Parisiens” allows us to glimpse not just the painter but the reader, the writer and the thinker.

It is without question one of the finest still lifes to appear on the market in decades. Often we sell a study for a major picture held in a museum, but in this case we have the final version, with the study—currently on view at the “Kiefer / Van Gogh” exhibition at the Royal Academy in London—belonging to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. I remember the landmark moment when, in 1987, a painting from his “Sunflowers” series sold in London for £24.75 million, setting a new world record for a work of art sold at auction. I was a university student and recall sitting in the common room, reading the front-page news. The excitement generated was one of the moments that drew me into the thrill of handling great works of art.

This painting was created in Paris just months before Van Gogh embarked on his celebrated “Sunflowers,” which he painted in Arles in 1888-89, and marks an important turning point as he moved away from academic conventions. The palette is striking, grounded by the signature yellow-green tones that would come to define some of his most iconic works, including “The Bedroom,” “The Yellow House” and the wheat fields series. In a letter to his brother, Theo, written after completing the famous bedroom painting in October 1888, Van Gogh himself referred back to “Romans Parisiens” painted a few months earlier. He writes: “This bedroom is something like that still life of French novels with yellow, pink, green covers, you’ll recall.”

The work was also painted at a pivotal moment in the evolution of the Dutch artist’s paint handling. Looking closely, the delicate flower and the background of Eastern-patterned textiles are rendered in rich, lively and dynamic brushstrokes full of movement, variation and life. The French for still life is “nature morte”—dead nature—but this composition feels incredibly vibrant, immediate and personal.

The painting comes from the collection of Cindy and Jay Pritzker, where it was prominently displayed in the heart of the late Chicago collectors’ home. Van Gogh’s admiration for authors such as Émile Zola and Gustave Flaubert resonated deeply with Cindy’s own lifelong passion for literature and her conviction that education—like art—is essential to enriching public life.

Van Gogh’s universal appeal is reflected in the success of the “Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers” exhibition at the National Gallery in London earlier this year, which attracted over 300,000 visitors and became the most popular ticketed exhibition in the gallery’s 200-year history. Beyond its distinguished provenance and autobiographical significance, “Romans Parisiens” holds a special place in Van Gogh’s career: it was one of only three works he chose to exhibit at his first official public showing at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris in March 1888. Quietly radical and deeply personal, it offers a rare glimpse of Van Gogh as he saw himself—and as he first wished to be seen.
—As told to James Haldane

By Sam Hines
Global Chairman, Watches

When I joined the watch department in London in 2000, my colleagues were still buzzing about a 1926 Rolex that had sold a few months earlier at Christie’s. At the time, most watches at auction fetched between £2,000 and £5,000, with the coveted Paul Newman Daytona typically reaching around £8,000. But this particular Rolex, an early Oyster, had sold for an astonishing £17,000. Despite knowing it was historically significant, I couldn’t quite grasp why it had achieved such a record price.

Today, I would argue that this timepiece is not only one of the most important watches Rolex ever made, but that it helped define the company’s entire future. It was the very first Rolex Oyster, the brand’s pioneering waterproof wristwatch. It set the stage for Rolex’s approach to marketing, underscored its relentless focus on technical innovation and crystallized a key idea that still drives the brand nearly a century later: celebrating human achievement.

In 1927, Hans Wilsdorf, Rolex’s visionary founder, contacted Mercedes Gleitze—a 26‑year‑old stenographer and accomplished long‑distance swimmer from Brighton, England—to offer her the opportunity to wear his new Oyster watch during her second “vindication” attempt to swim the channel following her successful crossing on October 7, 1927. The water was significantly colder than before and, after nearly 10 hours, she was ultimately forced to abandon the attempt. Yet her extraordinary endurance in the frigid conditions silenced her critics, reinforced her status as the first British woman to conquer the Channel and showcased the Rolex Oyster’s own resilience under pressure.

With this single event, Rolex had not only proven the robustness of its new waterproof case—it had found its first ambassador. Gleitze’s feat made front-page news, and Rolex capitalized on it masterfully. Wilsdorf paid £10,000 for a full‑page advertisement on the front page of The Daily Mail, emblazoning headlines like “The Greatest Triumph in Watchmaking” and “The Wonder Watch That Defies the Elements.” It marked the start of a revolutionary strategy: aligning Rolex not just with timekeeping, but with endurance, excellence and the human spirit.

Technically, the Oyster case was a major leap forward. Its innovative design allowed the caseback, bezel and winding crown to screw tightly into the middle case, effectively sealing the movement like an oyster shell. In 1931, Rolex pushed the concept further with the Automatic Calibre, which enhanced water resistance even more. Thanks to the self-winding rotor, the crown no longer needed to be unscrewed to wind the watch, allowing it to remain sealed shut.

To appreciate just how radical this was, consider the era. Before the 1920s, the pocket watch remained the standard, tucked safely inside waistcoats, protected from the elements. A wristwatch, by contrast, was exposed to dust, moisture and shocks. For Rolex to focus entirely on this format, and to strive to make it both reliable and robust, was a bold move. But it paid off.

That 1927 swim marked a turning point. From that moment forward, Rolex aligned itself with the pursuits of adventurers, athletes and professionals operating in the most demanding environments on Earth. Gleitze’s Channel crossing, nearly a century ago, laid the foundation for what would become a legacy of tool watches built for real-world performance: the Submariner, the Explorer, the GMT-Master and the Sea-Dweller. Each of these models is a descendant of that first Oyster—a watch that proved time could be worn not only on the wrist, but into history.