This Van Gogh painting left Europe for first time. Now it’s in coronavirus quarantine

Even a Vincent Van Gogh painting couldn’t escape a Japanese coronavirus quarantine.

Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” left Europe for the first time as part of a traveling exhibit through London’s National Gallery, according to The Guardian. It was scheduled to debut at Tokyo’s Masterpieces from the National Gallery exhibit Tuesday, but that has now been delayed.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak in Japan, all national art museums will be closed for two weeks, according to The National Gallery.

“Tens of thousands” of tickets were likely sold to visit the Tokyo museum’s exhibit, The Art Newspaper said.

The closures were done as a precautionary measure and the exhibit now plans on debuting March 17, The National Gallery said.

“The Yomiuri Shimbun (a Japanese media organization), the National Museum of Western Art and the National Gallery are all very disappointed about this delay, but we understand and fully agree with the reasons for it,” the London museum stated.

South Korea and Italy have also shut down museums this week, according to ArtNet News.

Sixty paintings, ranging from the Italian Renaissance to the beginning of the 20th century, will be a part of the traveling exhibit in Japan. It’s the largest selection of the London museum’s collection to tour internationally, the museum said.

The “Sunflowers” painting was created in 1888 and is regarded as one of Van Gogh’s best works. It sold for nearly $40 million in 1987, which at the time was “more than triple the record” of any auctioned painting, according to the Associated Press.

The exhibit will move from Tokyo to Osaka in July and will remain in the country during the Summer Olympic Games, which are scheduled to be in Japan July 24 to Aug. 9.

There have been at least 850 coronavirus cases in Japan, with the majority being from a cruise ship docked in Yokohama, The Guardian reported.