10 paintings sold by Ford fetch $18 million in N.Y.

May 15, 1980

Ten impressionist and modern paintings from the collection of Henry Ford II, the auto tycoon, were sold Tuesday night sold for more than $18 million in a 32 -minute auction at Christie's New York. The auction was led by Van Gogh's "Le Jardin du Poete, Arles," which sold to an anonymous London art dealer for $5.2 million, the second-highest dollar price paid for a painting at an auction. Only Velazquez' "Juan de Pareja" brought a higher price, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art paid $5.5 million in 1970.