Van Gogh and Cézanne Works Headline Sotheby's $450 Million Auction

A dozen Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces collectively estimated at about $450 million are set to go under the hammer at Sotheby's in New York on Nov. 18 after remaining largely unseen for decades in a renowned private collection in Argentina, Jill Lawless reported for The Associated Press (AP).

Vincent van Gogh's "Châtaigniers en fleurs" and Paul Cézanne's "Arlequin" are among 12 masterpieces from the Blaquier collection headed to Sotheby's November auction. [Photo: Sotheby's]

The collection includes works by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and other major artists. Sotheby's unveiled the works ahead of the November sale, with the collection having remained largely out of public view for more than 50 years.

Among the highlights is van Gogh's "Châtaigniers en fleurs," or "Chestnut Trees in Flower," which carries an estimate of $180 million.

Cézanne's "Arlequin" has an estimate of $120 million. Sotheby's said both paintings could set auction records for their respective artists.

The works came from the collection assembled by Argentine art collector Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and her husband, sugar industrialist Carlos Pedro Blaquier. Their children are selling the works.

Helena Newman, Sotheby's chairman of Europe, compared the collection to a "mini-Musée d'Orsay," referring to the Paris museum renowned for its Impressionist and post-Impressionist holdings.