FIRST OFF . . .

Christie’s auction house in London announced Wednesday it would offer for auction the Van Gogh painting “Le Pont de Trinquetaille” and a spokesman for the firm said it expected the work would bring the second highest price in history. The spokesman said the painting, from Van Gogh’s Arles period, would be offered in London on June 29. The Van Gogh painting “Sunflowers” was recently purchased by a Japanese insurance firm for more than $39.9 million, making it the most expensive object ever sold at an auction. “Le Pont de Trinquetaille” is one of five large works Van Gogh painted in the south of France in October, 1888.