Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh died on July 29, 1890 from, what many believe, was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. In 2011, authors Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith wrote a book challenging that account of van Gogh’s death, claiming he could not have shot himself and that it was an accidental or deliberate homicide. In 1965 (75 years after the artist’s death) a farmer found a gun in the wheat fields where van Gogh painted and claimed to have shot himself. Because the gun was badly corroded and unusable, experts cannot positively identify it as “the” gun, even though it is the same caliber as the Lefaucheux revolver used in the shooting. The farmer gave the gun to the family who currently owns the inn where van Gogh had been living before his death… now, they decided to sell it. The revolver shot way past the €50-60K ($57-67K) estimate and sold to a private collector for €162.5K ($182K with premiums)!
If you are curious about the alternative story of van Gogh’s death, check out the movie At Eternity’s Gate. https://www.ateternitysgate-film.com/ Oh, and Howard has always wanted a work by van Gogh (it’s really out of my price range) so if anyone out there wants to send him a nice birthday present, I know he will really appreciate it!