Sotheby's to Auction $450 Million Impressionist Collection, Led by Van Gogh and Cézanne

Sotheby's announced Wednesday that a dozen Impressionist and post-Impressionist works valued at nearly $450 million will be auctioned in New York on Nov. 18, 2026, with Van Gogh's "Châtaigniers en fleurs" estimated at $180 million and Cézanne's "Arlequin" at $120 million. The paintings, unseen publicly for decades, come from the collection of the late Argentine collector Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and her sugar magnate husband, Carlos Pedro Blaquier, and are being sold by their children. The sale also includes works by Monet, Pissarro, Degas and Renoir. Sotheby's head of Impressionist and modern art, Helena Newman, said the collection is like a "mini- Musée D'Orsay." She said demand reflects collectors seeking established masterpieces amid global geopolitical uncertainty.