Van Gogh’s London home up for saleFebruary 29, 2012 - 16:29 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The London house where Vincent van Gogh spent one of the happiest years of his life is up for sale for the first time in living memory, London Evening Standard reported. The end-of-terrace "blue plaque" property in Hackford Road, near Brixton, is to be auctioned by Savills next month with a guide price of £475,000. The three-storey, mid-19th century property has been in the same family for more than 60 years and has many period features that would have been familiar to the Dutch artist, including fireplaces and outdoor lavatory. The house, which is being sold by the children of the elderly couple who owned it from the Forties, would have to be refurbished, including installation of central heating. Independent agents have said it could be worth about £750,000 after modernisation. Van Gogh arrived in London aged 20 to work at an art dealership in Southampton Street, Covent Garden, and took lodgings at the house in May 1873. He lived in the front bedroom on the top floor and drew a sketch of the terrace. Letters sent to his brother Theo suggest his stay was a very settled time, although an unrequited crush on the landlady's daughter Eugenie Loyer is said to have marked the beginnings of his descent into mental illness. A comment in one of his letters that "a woman does not grow old as long as she loves and is loved" was the inspiration for the play Vincent In Brixton set in the Hackford Road house. In another letter he described the area as "quite beautiful and so quiet that you almost forget you are in London". Top stories Ara Aivazian said Azerbaijan continues the traditions of Turkey after seizing territories and forced Armenians out. The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. Partner news | International cybercrime ringleaders arrested in Armenia, Ukraine Europol, Europe's crime agency, has arrested four ringleaders of several cybercrime networks that used botnets. Armenia skips CSTO Defense Ministers meeting A meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization countries began in Almaty. Armenian, Iranian foreigh policy chief talk over the phone The Foreign Minister of Armenia once again expressed condolences to his counterpart on the death of the President of Iran. Armenia, U.S. customs authorities to boost assistance with new deal The government has approved an agreement with the U.S. government on mutual assistance between the customs authorities. |