Van Gogh sketch auctions for record €8.6 million

The drawing La Mousmé (the young girl) by Vincent van Gogh from 1888 auctioned for 10.4 million dollars, about 8.6 million euros, at a Christie's auction in New York on Monday. That is a record amount for a Van Gogh drawing, according to The Art Newspaper.

Van Gogh drew La Mousmé in the summer of 1888 in Arles, France. The sketch was inspired by Japanese art and the 1887 Pierre Loti novel titled Madame Chrysanthème. The novel is set in Japan and the author explains that 'mousme' means "a young girl or very young woman", calling it "the most beautiful of words in Japan."

In 1888, Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo that the girl in La Mousmé was somewhere between 12 and 14 years old.

Christie's estimated that the auction would raise 7 to 10 million dollars. The auction house did not disclose who bought or sold the sketch.