Van Rogh was an alias or, to be more specific, a pen(cil) name used by Iris Bilewitz, later von Everec (after marrying Olgierd) to sell her art. ''He'' - meaning van Rogh - is not so popular among art dealers, but has some fierce admirers in Novigrad itself, like one Marcus Thaddeus Knut Hodgson, a rich bookseller from Hierarch Square.
Trivia
- The name is an unsubtle reference to the famous painter Vincent van Gogh, who was unpopular during his lifetime and reputed to have only sold one painting before his suicide.
- The painting sold at the Borsoldi auction "Starry night over the Pontar" borrows its name from van Gogh's "Starry night over the Rhone" and its art from "The Starry Night".
- Iris's name itself may also be a reference to "Irises", one of several paintings which van Gogh made while at an asylum in the year before his death. He said that continuing to paint helped keep him from going insane.
- The manner of Iris's death echoes that of van Gogh himself. When the Black Dog tells of how Iris's heart "burst", it echoes Vvn Gogh's shooting of his chest.