On 18 November 2026, Sotheby's New York will offer Vincent van Gogh's Châtaigniers en fleurs, 1890, as a highlight of Legendary: The Blaquier-Arrieta Collection. The landscape, painted in Auvers-sur-Oise during the last months of the artist's life, has not been seen on the market for fifty years.
The official estimate is on request. For press purposes, Sotheby's has given a projected value of $180 million, a figure that would surpass the artist's current auction record of $117.2 million, set at Christie's New York in 2022 by Verger avec cyprès. Those numbers are a measure of anticipation, not a result; the sale is still a week away.
The picture belongs to the brief, intense chapter in which Van Gogh, under the care of Dr. Paul Gachet, painted the countryside around Auvers as if it were both a refuge and a new beginning. Chestnut trees in blossom were among the first subjects he took up there. Sotheby's has noted that he worked in this period for some seventy days, and that only eight landscapes from those weeks remain in private hands. The work passed from Vincent's brother Theo, and later Theo's widow Johanna, through a distinguished line of dealers and collectors before entering the Buenos Aires-based Blaquier-Arrieta collection, from which it now reappears.
For collectors, an Auvers landscape of this stature is a rare event. We will be watching the evening of 18 November with interest.
The Wall Art Gallery
Sources:
- Official Sotheby's article, 30 October 2026: https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/editorial-pricing-the-priceless-how-to-value-vincent-van-gogh
- Official New York sales series page (evening auction 18 November 2026, 6:00 PM EST): https://www.sothebys.com/en/series/the-new-york-sales
- The Art Newspaper, 11 November 2022 (current Van Gogh auction record): https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/11/11/a-van-gogh-record-landscape-of-orchard-with-cypresses-soars-to-117m-at-paul-allen-auction