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Van Gogh's Châtaigniers en fleurs: A Last Spring in Auvers Heads to Sotheby's

Painted in May 1890, weeks before Van Gogh's death, and not shown publicly since 1964, Châtaigniers en fleurs leads Sotheby's 12 painting Blaquier-Arrieta sale in New York on November 18, estimated around $180 million.

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In May 1890, Vincent van Gogh arrived in Auvers-sur-Oise after a year in the asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and began painting with renewed energy. Châtaigniers en fleurs (Chestnut Trees in Flower) comes from those first weeks: a flowering chestnut built up in vigorous strokes of green, blue and yellow against a deep blue sky, with women passing beneath in Japanese inspired dress, carrying parasols. He painted at least 4 major works with chestnut trees in Auvers and died that July. According to The Guardian, it is 1 of only 8 Auvers paintings still in private hands.

After his death the painting passed to his brother Theo. A later owner was George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva, the songwriter and film producer who cofounded Capitol Records. It was last shown publicly at the Guggenheim in New York in 1964 and entered the collection of the Argentine collectors Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and Carlos Pedro Blaquier in 1975, a holding kept largely out of view at their estate outside Buenos Aires.

On November 18 it leads Legendary: The Blaquier-Arrieta Collection Evening Auction at Sotheby's New York, 12 paintings expected to bring around $450 million and all backed by guarantees. Sotheby's estimates the Van Gogh at around $180 million, well above the artist's auction record of $117.2 million, set by Verger avec cyprès at Christie's in November 2022 in the Paul Allen sale. "It's incredibly rare," says Helena Newman, Sotheby's chairman of Impressionist and Modern art. Alongside it: Cézanne's Arlequin (around $120 million, per Sotheby's), Pissarro's La Place du Théâtre Français ($30 million to $40 million), Renoir's En Canot ($25 million to $35 million) and Monet's Le Jardin des Tuileries ($15 million to $20 million).

The collection toured London, Taipei, Hong Kong and Paris, where the Van Gogh hung October 19 to 23, before landing in New York. All 12 works are on view at Sotheby's, 945 Madison Avenue, from November 7 until the sale, free with a timed reservation. Simon Shaw, a senior art adviser at Sotheby's, calls the group "a miniature Musée d'Orsay, now opening its doors for the very first time."

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