On the anniversary of the artist's birth, Van Gogh's Sunflowers was【21】for just under ￡ 25

million at the fine art auctioneers(拍卖), Christie's, in London. The【22】was triple the previous record of ￡ 8 million paid in 1985 for Mantegna's Adoration of the Magi. At least ten bidders【23】for the painting, half【24】telephone, anonymously battling it out in leaps of ￡ 500,000. Van Gogh wrote in a letter of 1889 that one of these Scots or Americans【25】to pay 500 francs--about ￡ 25 at that time-- for【26】a painting.

Christie's chairman【27】reporters after the sale, "it's a rare picture." A spokesman for the firm added, "It's fantastic." Not【28】who was at the auction agreed. One commented, "More money【29】sense."

Many people do【30】uneasy that a picture could be auctioned for such an unbelievable sum. They find distasteful the contrast【31】this sort of money and the impoverished life of the painter【32】Van Gogh, once a lay preacher among the miners of Belgium, was more【33】in producing work that dignified labor than he was in selling for a profit. Depressive, poor, unrecognized and【34】suicidal, he remains a romantic figure in the public【35】.

(41)

A．bought

B．sold

C．displayed

D．shown