A group of 12 Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from the Blaquier-Arrieta collection will be offered in New York in November, led by a Vincent van Gogh estimated at $180m.
Blaquier-Arrieta Collection Heads to Sotheby’s
Twelve paintings from the Blaquier-Arrieta collection, one of the significant remaining private holdings of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, are expected to generate around $450m at Sotheby’s New York in November 2026. The collection was assembled by Argentine collectors Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and her husband, Carlos Pedro Blaquier, and remained largely out of public view for decades.
The auction is scheduled for 18 November and will bring together works by artists including Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Sotheby’s is presenting selected works internationally before the New York sale, beginning with five paintings shown in London.
Van Gogh’s Châtaigniers en fleurs Carries $180m Estimate
The most closely watched work in the collection is Vincent van Gogh’s Châtaigniers en fleurs (also known as Châtaignier en fleurs roses et blanches), painted in May 1890 in Auvers-sur-Oise during the final months of the artist’s life.
Sotheby’s has placed an estimate of around $180m on the painting. If it reaches or exceeds that figure, it would surpass Van Gogh’s current auction record of $117.2m, achieved by Portrait of Dr. Gachet in 1990. The estimate therefore places the painting among the most valuable works ever publicly offered at auction. (Reuters)
Van Gogh produced the painting shortly after leaving the asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and settling in Auvers-sur-Oise. Its late date and connection to this final period of his career are central to its significance within the upcoming sale.
Cézanne’s Arlequin Could Set Another Record
Another major highlight is Paul Cézanne’s Arlequin. Sotheby’s expects the painting to make around $120m, a figure that would establish a new auction record for the artist if achieved.
The work is notable within Cézanne’s series of Harlequin paintings. According to The Art Newspaper, it has not been exhibited in London since 1954, while no comparable portrait by the artist has appeared at auction since 1988. The painting’s anticipated price also reflects the scarcity of major Cézanne works remaining in private hands.
The potential Cézanne record has an important distinction in the broader market. A different Cézanne painting, The Card Players, was reportedly sold privately to the state of Qatar for more than $250m in 2012. That transaction was not an auction sale and therefore does not constitute the artist’s public auction record. (The Art Newspaper)
A Collection Preserved in Private Hands
The Blaquier-Arrieta collection has remained largely inaccessible to the public for decades, with many of its works kept at the family estate outside Buenos Aires, Argentina. Seven of the 12 paintings being offered were acquired from London’s Lefevre Gallery during the 1970s, when the collectors regularly travelled to London in search of art.
This provenance gives the forthcoming auction particular significance for the history of private collecting. Rather than representing a recently assembled group of works, the sale brings to market paintings that formed part of a long-standing collection built during a period when major European modernist works were still available to private collectors.
International Tour Before the New York Sale
Sotheby’s is taking selected works from the collection on an international tour before the auction. Following the London presentation, the paintings are scheduled to travel to Taipei, Hong Kong and Paris before arriving in New York for the November sale.
The London presentation includes Cézanne’s Arlequin and Claude Monet’s Le Jardin des Tuileries, while other works in the auction include paintings by Maurice de Vlaminck, Camille Pissarro and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Sotheby’s official auction listing confirms the 18 November New York sale and identifies the principal works included in the collection.
The combined estimate of approximately $450m makes the Blaquier-Arrieta collection one of the most valuable groups of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works to reach the auction market in recent years. The November sale will determine whether Van Gogh’s Châtaigniers en fleurs and Cézanne’s Arlequin achieve the auction records anticipated for them.
