The new owner of
Montmartre Street Scene (1887) is the Reuben family the property developers Simon and David Reuben. In an extraordinary auction last week at Sotheby’s in Paris, an internet bidder turned out not to have the money for a Van Gogh.
Although the Reuben brothers are Britain’s joint second-richest UK family, worth £16bn (according to
The Sunday Times Rich List), they are discreet and hardly household names. But their life story shows how self-made people can acquire a Van Gogh to hang above their sofa.
Simon and David were born in Mumbai, India, to Jewish parents of Iraqi descent. They came to England as teenagers in the 1950s, with David going into the scrap metal business and Simon into the carpet trade. The brothers later worked together and in the 1990s they made a fortune in the Russian metal market. The two men are now among the world’s leading property developers. They also have a charitable foundation, which last year gave £80m to the University of Ox
Iraq
Mumbai
Maharashtra
India
Paris
France-general
France
United-kingdom
Compton-verney
Warwickshire
Russia
London
Vincent van Gogh’s
Sunflowers will go on show today at Canberra’s National Gallery of Australia. It will be the climax in the final room of the exhibition
In a message to Australians in the exhibition catalogue, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson singled out the show’s star painting and the pleasure of “having the soul lifted by the explosive yellows and greens of Van Gogh’s favourite and most famous
Sunflowers”.
Johnson, never one to forgo a cricketing joke, also reiterated that exchanges between the UK and Australia, cultural and otherwise, are nothing new: “We have codified all manner of sports, taught you the rules and then watched, somewhat bemused, as you taught us how to play.”
New-york
United-states
Australia
Japan
Tokyo
Osaka
Paris
France-general
France
Netherlands
United-kingdom
Compton-verney