An unseen painting by Vincent van Gogh has gone up for sale for €8milllion after being in a private collection for 134 years.

The artwork, titled Street Scene In Montmartre, was painted in 1887 - three years before the Dutch impressionist master is believed to have died by suicide.

It will be exhibited next month in Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Paris ahead of an auction scheduled on March 25 in the French capital.

Sotheby's auction house said that it has remained in the same family collection for more than 100 years – away from the public eye.

The painting's estimate value is between €5million to €8million.

The piece depicts a man and woman strolling arm-in-arm through the rural landscape in the Parisian neighbourhood set against a backdrop of a ramshackle fence and the renowned Moulin de la Galette windmill.

'It's an important painting in the oeuvre of Vincent van Gogh because it dates from the period in which he's living in Paris with his brother, Theo,' said Etienne Hellman, senior director of impressionist and modern art at Sotheby's.

Van Gogh moved to Paris in 1886 and lived in Montmartre.

Just two years later, in 1888, he left the capital in favour of southern France which is where he then lived until his death in 1890.

'Before this, his paintings are much darker… In Paris he discovers colour.

'Color blows up into the painting. Paris marks this period where… the major impressionists influence his work,' he added.

Sotheby's said the painting has been published in seven catalogues before but has never been exhibited.

Claudia Mercier, auctioneer of Mirabaud Mercier house, said 'it is also an important painting because there are very, very few of them remaining in private hands… especially from that period, most are in museums now'.

Sotheby's has estimated the painting's value at between €5million to €8million (£4.3 million to £6.9 million).

It did not reveal the identity of the owner.