Sotheby’s will open the sale on 18 Nov 2026 at 10:00 a.m. EST in its New York showroom. It will offer twelve Impressionist and post‑Impressionist canvases that had lain unseen since the 1970s in the private holdings of Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and her husband Carlos Pedro Blaquier. The collection, now being handled by their children, includes a $180 million van Gogh and a $120 million Cézanne. Its rebirth after five decades is already commanding headlines.
The paintings were kept in a remote estate in Patagonia, a fact that only recently resurfaced in a leaked inventory list. For half a century, the works were locked behind glass in a private vault, with no loans to museums or exhibitions. Their sudden public debut is a shock to the art world, which has long speculated about their whereabouts.
Van Gogh’s “Châtaigniers en fleurs” is a post‑Asylum landscape that critics say captures the artist’s explosive energy after his release in May 1890. Cézanne’s “Arlequin” is one of four portraits of his son in a harlequin costume, the other three residing in major museums. The collection also contains Monet’s Parisian cityscapes, Pissarro’s rural scenes, Degas’s horse‑racing study, and Renoir’s boating tableau, each valued in the tens of millions.
Helena Newman, Sotheby’s head of impressionist and modern art, called the set a “mini‑Musée d’Orsay.” Former auctioneer Philip Hook described the assemblage as “legendary” for its focused representation of each major artist. The sale is poised to attract bidders ranging from Silicon Valley magnates to Gulf‑region foundations.
Auctioners expect the high‑profile event to push record prices for both van Gogh and Cézanne. The next day, bidders will be advised to register online, with final hammer prices to be announced after 4:00 p.m. EST.