In the case of Fauve painter Kees van Dongen, Mr. Black said any portraits made between 1905 and 1908 are "more historically significant" and easier to resell than anything Van Dongen painted from 1909 afterward.

WSJ: Following the Smart Art Money

Over time, though, he warms to the invaders: Joe (Bobby Cannavale), loud and lonely, who sells coffee and hot dogs from a neighboring van, and Olivia (Patricia Clarkson), a painter, still mourning the loss of a young son.

NEWYORKER: The Station Agent

Ms. Kienle argues, with Van Gogh's many letters as evidence, that the greatest Dutch painter since Rembrandt managed to survive, in part, by employing a kind of self-hypnosis, sessions of superhuman focus that helped Van Gogh put down the fires in his head.

WSJ: Dan Neil on the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Van Gogh Up Close