Sotheby’s will offer 12 Impressionist and Modern paintings from the Blaquier-Arrieta collection in New York on 18 November 2026. Helena Newman, Sotheby’s chairman of Impressionist and Modern art, told The Art Newspaper the house expects them to bring “in the region of $450m”. The sellers are the children of Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and Carlos Pedro Blaquier, president of the Argentine sugar producer Ledesma from 1970 to 2013.
It is a family asset turned into cash after both collectors’ deaths, with a minimum price fixed in advance.
What Sotheby’s Is Selling on 18 November
The lead lot is Vincent van Gogh’s Châtaigniers en fleurs (Blossoming Chestnut Trees), painted at Auvers on 24 May 1890. Sotheby’s gives its estimate, like that of Paul Cézanne’s Arlequin (1888 to 1890), only “upon request”. AP and The Art Newspaper report about $180m for the Van Gogh and about $120m for the Cézanne. Sotheby’s publishes estimates for three other lots: Monet $15m to $20m, Renoir $25m to $35m and Pissarro $30m to $40m. New York viewing runs 7 to 17 November.
The Auction Records in Play
The Van Gogh auction record is about $117.2m, for Orchard with Cypresses at Christie’s New York in November 2022, CBS News and The Art Newspaper reported. The Cézanne record, according to Forbes Argentina, is about $137.8m for La Montagne Sainte-Victoire in the same sale. A $180m hammer price would mean about $207m with the buyer’s premium, The Art Newspaper calculates. Private sales do not count: The Art Newspaper, citing Artnet, says Christie’s earlier sold the family’s Van Gogh The Zouave (1888) privately for around $190m.
How the Guarantee Works for Heirs
Newman confirmed to The Art Newspaper that Sotheby’s has guaranteed the collection, for an undisclosed amount. A guarantee promises the seller an agreed minimum whatever happens in the room; in return the house, or an outside backer, usually shares in any price above it. For heirs dividing one estate, a known floor makes the split easier to plan.
The couple began collecting in the 1960s, Sotheby’s says. Seven of the 12 works came from London’s Lefevre Gallery in the 1970s, The Art Newspaper reports. Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier died in 2020 and Carlos Pedro Blaquier in 2023. The family keeps its important Argentine and Latin American works, the paper adds. Sotheby’s says an Argentine customs dispute over the works’ export to Luxembourg was resolved this year.
Art is a concentrated, illiquid holding, a classic risk. The Thyssen-Bornemisza collection ended in a sale to Spain; Monsoon founder Peter Simon’s was auctioned in October, fully guaranteed.
A fair caveat
The $450m is Sotheby’s expectation, not a total estimate, and the two top estimates come from press reports. Guarantee terms, fees and how the heirs share the proceeds are private.
What to watch
- Whether the Van Gogh passes $117.2m and the Cézanne $137.8m on 18 November.
- Whether outside backers join the guarantee before the sale.
- What the family does with the Latin American works it keeps.
Questions to bring to your advisors
If our collection passed to several heirs, would we sell, split or keep it? Do we know where each work is held and what a sale would net after fees? These are questions to bring to your advisors, not advice.
