"I've done the portrait of M. Gachet with a melancholy expression, which might well seem like a grimace to those who see it." "Sad but gentle, yet clear and intelligent, that is how many portraits ought to be done." (Vincent in a letter to his brother Theo) The shown books are 'Manette Salomon' and 'Germinie Lacerteux' by the brothers Edmond and Jules de Goncours. The plant is foxglove. In 1868, Van Gogh's sister-in-law Johanna sold the painting for 300 francs. The painting was sold several more times until it ended up on display in Frankfurt's Städtische Galerie. With the rise of Hitler in 1933, the museum director took Dr. Gachet and several other Expressionist paintings and locked them in a hidden room. His actions may have saved the paintings, because soon after, the Nazis condemned many works of "degenerate art" and sought to confiscate them. In 1937, the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda found Dr. Gachet. Goerin (http://www.tfsimon.com/auvers-sur-oise.html)