NEW YORK -- On March 30, 1987, a painting from Vincent Van Gogh's iconic "Sunflowers" series was up for auction at Christie's London. Speculation was that it would go for as much as $12 million, nearly $3 million more than the last Van Gogh, "Landscape with Rising Sun," auctioned at the highest-ever price of $9.9 million.
Then-head of Christie's Impressionist and Modern department Michael Findlay was holding the $12 million bid (approximately 9.5 million pounds). Raising it again -- certain that would close the sale -- Findlay was astounded when the bids kept going up, and didn't stop until hitting $39.9 million (24.75 million pounds).
