Hundreds of art lovers lined up outside a Hong Kong gallery to see a Vincent van Gogh masterpiece that had been hidden from public view for more than six decades. The 1890 painting, titled Châtaigniers en fleurs (Chestnut Trees in Blossom), reappeared ahead of a planned auction on 18 November at Sotheby’s in New York.
The auction house expects the painting to sell for about $180 million (£138 million). If it reaches that price, it would set a new auction record for a work by the Dutch artist. The painting went on public display in Hong Kong as part of a worldwide preview. Large crowds came to see one of the few major late works by Van Gogh still held in private hands.
Created in final weeks of life
Vincent van Gogh painted Chestnut Trees in Blossom in May 1890 in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, during the final months of his life.
The landscape shows a chestnut tree covered in blossoms, with a lone man walking past three women dressed in Japanese clothing. It is one of about 70 works Van Gogh created after leaving the psychiatric asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, where he had painted his famous work Starry Night. Scott Niichel, a vice chairman at Sotheby's, spoke about the painting's emotional importance during a media presentation covered by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"It's one of the last, most expressive and hopeful works by van Gogh in this final phase of his career," Niichel told AFP. Van Gogh created about 70 landscapes during his short stay in Auvers-sur-Oise before his death in July 1890. Only eight of these works remain in private hands. The others are held by major museums around the world.
Out of sight for six decades
The painting has been hidden from public view for more than 60 years. According to ownership records published by Sotheby's, art collector Harriet Harris Jonas bought the painting in 1953.
It was later bought through art dealer Wildenstein in 1975 by the late Argentine industrialist Carlos Pedro Blaquier and his wife, Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier. The painting has remained in the Blaquier family collection ever since.
It is the main work in the Blaquier-Arrieta Collection, which Sotheby's has named "Legendary." Simon Shaw, a senior adviser at Sotheby's, described the wider collection's historical importance in a statement released by the company.
"What strikes me most is that the Blaquier-Arrieta collection doesn't feel like a private collection at all," Shaw said in the statement. "It feels like a small museum, a miniature Musée d'Orsay, now opening its doors for the very first time." Along with the Van Gogh landscape, the collection includes works by major Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists such as Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Camille Pissarro.
Sotheby's expects the entire collection to raise more than $450 million when it goes up for auction in November.
Testing the global art market
The Hong Kong exhibition gave Sotheby's an important chance to measure interest among Asian collectors before the New York auction. Visitors travelled long distances to see the painting during its short stay in the city. Li Shanshan, an art lover who travelled two and a half hours from Shenzhen to view the work, shared her thoughts with the BBC.
"I'd never heard of this painting before, so I wanted to see it with my own eyes," Li told the BBC.
"I think it will create a huge sensation around the world." The current auction record for a Van Gogh painting is $117.2 million. The record was set in 2022 when Orchard with Cypresses was sold at Christie's as part of the Paul G. Allen collection. If Chestnut Trees in Blossom reaches its estimated price of $180 million, it will break that record and become one of the most expensive artworks ever sold at auction. Niichel told AFP that interest in the painting comes from around the world. He said "anything is possible" when discussing who might buy the work in November. He also said the strong public response during the Hong Kong preview suggests that a buyer from Asia is a real possibility.