3. She owned two of Van Gogh’s works
She was a passionate and insightful collector. At the time of her death, she left a collection of over 400 works, unfortunately, dispersed at a sale. Half were her own works and the rest contained some gems: paintings by Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, James Ensor, a screen by Émile Bernard, two sculptures by Constantin Meunier, and more.
She also owned two of Van Gogh’s works. One was The Red Wine at Montmajour which, according to legend, is the only painting Van Gogh sold during his lifetime. The other, acquired after his death, was Plain of the Crau with Peach Trees in Bloom. Interestingly, she sold them both around 1906 to buy Seurat’s painting! Finally, she bequeathed this painting as well as those of Gauguin, Seurat, and Ensor to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels where they can still be admired.