Is “El misterio del Dr. Gachet” in Ryoei Saito's grave?

As if it were a detective novel, Van Gogh's painting “El misterio del Dr. Gachet” vanished. The riddle of its disappearance began with the death of its buyer. Back in the 90s, an eccentric Japanese millionaire businessman, Ryoei Saito, bought two Van Goghs that would become the most expensive ever paid for. Yes, yes, I know it's frustrating just to think that the hand and mind that painted those marvels died in utter poverty so that later on Mr. Saito could come along and spend over 150 million dollars on “Retrato del Dr. Gachet” and “Au Moulin de la Galette”. We'll come back to this paradox handed to us by the art world a few years later, though, when this colourful collector died and the Van Gogh disappeared. More than two decades on, “El misterio del Dr. Gachet” is still...just that; a mystery.

Ryoei Saito may have died along with “El misterio del Dr. Gachet so he wouldn't have to pay tax

Although there are no reliable sources to back it up, there are certain rumours about statements Ryoei Saito made while he was alive, in which he made it clear that he wanted to be buried with both this van gogh and a renoir so as not to have to pay the taxes demanded of him years after buying them. We know that artworks are taxed differently in each country. In this case, the debt would have come to 24 million dollars.

Faced with this, the businessman had decided to burn it so that his descendants wouldn't have to pay that price. Some people think he didn't do that but rather took it to the grave with him. Since his death in 1996, the painting remains an unknown and there's no way of finding out.

The private collection theory

Apart from Ryoei Saito's statements, plenty of media outlets have offered possible answers to this question. For instance, it's been said that the painting is in the hands of some unknown tycoon, in a private collection under lock and key. There are even rumours claiming it was an Italian businessman who got hold of it. At the time, New York's Metropolitan looked into its whereabouts and it was claimed that its investigators had traced it and that its continued existence was neither denied nor confirmed. Of course, all of us art lovers want to believe that what is considered Van Gogh's finest painting was never destroyed.

The truth about the whereabouts of “El misterio del Dr.Gachet”

The 21st century has left us more answers than any other moment in history and, although fantasy and mystery are usually more fun than the truth, the reality is that this painting was sold to an Australian investor called Wolfang Flötll and that later on he had to hand it over to other unknown people for personal reasons.