His posthumous reversal in fortune owes much to the woman behind the winning bid on that spring evening at the dawn of the 20th century: Helene Kröller-Müller. Even then, however, interest in van Gogh remained far from universal. It was the first of many loans, which progressed hand in hand with more acquisitions (of van Gogh alone, she bought two paintings from Jo and another 26, plus six drawings, at auction in 1920). As well as van Gogh, Helene collected works by neo-Impressionists such as Georges Seurat. (Image credit: Alamy/UtCon Collection)Although van Gogh formed the heart of the original Kröller-Müller collection, he was by no means the only artist represented in it.