Van Gogh painting estimated at $180 million
Sotheby’s will put the landscape Châtaigniers en fleurs under the hammer in New York in November.
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Sotheby’s estimates the value of a painting by Vincent van Gogh at $180 million. The work is part of a major auction of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art taking place in New York on 18 November.
The painting is Châtaigniers en fleurs, a landscape by Van Gogh. Sotheby’s expects the work could fetch around $180 million. That figure is an auction estimate, not a sale price. The final proceeds may be higher or lower, depending on the number of bidders and the level of interest on the night itself.
The painting comes from a private collection that has largely remained out of the public eye for decades. According to publicly available auction information, the collection was assembled by Argentine art collector Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and her husband Carlos Pedro Blaquier. Their children are now bringing the works to market.
The auction includes around a dozen works, which together are estimated at nearly half a billion dollars. Alongside Van Gogh, a portrait by Paul Cézanne is also being offered, with an estimate of $120 million. The combination of scarce works, well-known artists and a major private collection makes the sale an important moment for the international art market.
A high estimate says more about market expectations than about a work’s artistic or historical value. Auction houses use comparable sales, provenance, condition, size and rarity to establish a range. Without the bidding process, it is impossible to predict whether a new record will be set.
Interest in such works also comes from a very small international group of buyers. Art auctions at this level are not representative of the broader museum or visitor market. They do show how masterpieces are treated as financial and cultural assets, particularly when investors and collectors seek objects that are recognisable and scarce worldwide.
The sale date is 18 November in New York. Until then, $180 million remains Sotheby’s estimate. Only after the auction will it be clear whether the work does indeed rank among the most expensive Van Gogh paintings and whether the sale sets a new record for the artist.
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The factual details correspond to the publicly available auction information as reported by AP. Uncertain elements, such as a record price, are explicitly presented as an expectation or possibility.
- confirmed Châtaigniers en fleurs has an estimated value of $180 million. — AP cites this estimate from Sotheby’s. source
- confirmed The auction will take place in New York on 18 November. — The auction date and location are given in the AP report. source
- confirmed The collection was assembled by Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and Carlos Pedro Blaquier. — AP describes the provenance of the collection. source
- confirmed The final proceeds may differ from the estimate. — This follows from the nature of an auction estimate and is not a prediction of a specific outcome. source
Editor's note
The name of the work, the $180 million estimate, the auction date and the collection history were reported by AP based on information from Sotheby’s. The final sale price and any possible record remain unknown.Sources
- Works by van Gogh and Cézanne up for sale in Sotheby’s $450 million auction — Associated Press
More on this in Dutch media
- De Telegraaf — „vincent van gogh”
- AD — „vincent van gogh”
- de Volkskrant — „vincent van gogh”