Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘suicide’ gun auctioned off for $212,000
The gun that Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh is believed to have used to take his own life has sold at a Paris auction for a whopping 130,000 euros (AU$212,000).
The Lefaucheux revolver, which was encased in rust, was purchased via telephone by a private collector for almost three times the expected price.
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The Art Auction, which sold the weapon, admitted that there was no way of guaranteeing the gun was indeed that which killed Van Gogh, but said the dates matched up.
"Technical tests on the weapon have shown the weapon was used and indicate that it stayed in the ground for a period that would coincide with 1890," the auction house said.
"All these clues give credence to the theory that this is the weapon used in the suicide."
It was found by a farmer in 1965 near the village where the artist spent his final days, and is approximately the right age, and took the same calibre of bullet that Van Gogh took his life with.
But, doubts were raised about the authenticity of the gun by the Van Gogh Institute, who did not believe the gun was linked to the death of the artist.
"Nothing suggests that the remains (of the gun) are formally linked with the death of Van Gogh," it said in a statement, criticising the "commercialisation of a tragedy which deserves more respect".
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