Sotheby's to offer $450m Blaquier-Arrieta Collection, led by Van Gogh estimated at $180m
Summary
- Sotheby's is to sell the Blaquier-Arrieta Collection in New York, valuing the trove at $450 million and led by masterworks unseen in public for half a century.
- Van Gogh's 'Châtaigniers en fleurs' carries an estimate of about $180 million and Cézanne's 'Arlequin' an estimate of $120 million.
- The paintings were acquired by Argentine sugar magnate Carlos Pedro Blaquier, who faced untried charges over 1976 disappearances before his death in 2023.
- The New York auction week is forecast to total about $2.4 billion as the art market rebounds from declines in 2023 and 2024.
Reactions
- Sotheby's CEO Charles Stewart says demand for top blue-chip works is strong, citing rising stock markets, wealth creation and recovery across Asia and the Middle East.
- Christie's CEO Bonnie Brennan calls the market confident but discerning, saying masterpiece opportunities matter more than any week's stock-market swings.
- A Sotheby's spokesperson says Carlos Pedro Blaquier was never convicted and the allegations do not detract from the quality or significance of the artworks.
- Bank of America's Drew Watson says blue-chip art is outperforming, with Impressionist and Modern sales up 133% in the first half, and describes the outlook as cautiously optimistic.
- ArtTactic forecasts about $2.4 billion in total New York sales, with Sotheby's expected to take in over $1.1 billion.
Timeline newest first
Sotheby's estimates The Blaquier-Arrieta Collection at $450 million, with Van Gogh's 'Châtaigniers en fleurs' estimated at $180 million and Cézanne's 'Arlequin' at $120 million.
Sotheby's schedules its 'Legendary' auction of twelve rarely seen masterpieces from the Blaquier-Arrieta Collection for Wednesday in New York.
Sources newest first
$180 million Van Gogh tests the art market and collector confidence
A CNBC article reports that Vincent van Gogh's 'Châtaigniers en fleurs', unseen in public for half a century, carries Sotheby's $180 million estimate as part of The Blaquier-Arrieta Collection, which the house values at $450 million. Sotheby's CEO Charles Stewart says demand for top blue-chip works is strong, while Christie's, Bank of America and ArtTactic describe a rebounding market, with New York auction sales forecast to reach around $2.4 billion.
Masterpieces haunted by brutal past could send records tumbling at Sotheby’s
A Guardian article previews Sotheby's "Legendary" auction of twelve rarely seen masterpieces from the Blaquier-Arrieta collection, including van Gogh's Châtaigniers en fleurs, estimated around $180m, which it predicts could set record prices. It also recounts the dark history behind the sugar-funded collection: Carlos Pedro Blaquier's suspected role in Argentina's 1976 Night of the Blackout, and Sotheby's response that he was never convicted.
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A Washington Post live page follows Martha Stewart's Halloween costume backlash — a homeless-person costume, her deleted Instagram post, and apologies culminating on the 'Today' show — alongside post-midterm fallout: GOP criticism of Pete Hegseth, Trump's backing of RNC chair Joe Gruters, and Democratic wins tied to Hurricane Helene. It also reports a lost Georgia O'Keeffe painting heading to Christie's auction.
Rare Renaissance masterpiece hidden for 70 years could fetch £5m at auction
The Guardian reports the first Altdorfer painting to reach auction since 1980: a roughly 1520 pure landscape oil, unseen in public for 70 years in a private Swiss collection, that Sotheby's in London sells on 9 December at an estimate of £3m to £5m. Sotheby's George Gordon calls the small densely wooded scene one of the most exciting discoveries imaginable in the old masters field and deems Altdorfer the most significant German Renaissance artist after Dürer.
