Unseen for Fifty Years: A Rare Impressionist Collection Leads New York's November Sales

Each November, New York’s evening auctions offer a concentrated look at the art market at its highest level. This season’s marquee week, beginning November 16, brings something genuinely uncommon: a private collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting that has been largely out of public view for half a century.

On November 18, Sotheby’s will offer Legendary: The Blaquier-Arrieta Collection, twelve paintings assembled by the Argentine collectors Carlos Pedro Blaquier and Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier beginning in the 1960s and now being sold by their children. The group, expected to bring around $450 million, traces the arrival of modern painting through works by Monet, Degas, Renoir, Pissarro, Gauguin, Van Gogh and Cézanne.

*Vincent van Gogh. Châtaigniers en fleurs. Sotheby’s*

Two paintings lead the sale. Van Gogh’s Châtaigniers en fleurs (Chestnut Trees in Flower) was painted at Auvers-sur-Oise in May 1890, in the final months of the artist’s life, and has been reported at about $180 million. Cézanne’s Arlequin (1888–90), estimated at about $120 million, depicts the artist’s son in Harlequin costume; it is one of four such paintings, and the other three belong to major museums. Sotheby’s has said both could set auction records for their artists.

The same week, Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale on November 17 is led by Wassily Kandinsky’s Betonte Ecken (1922–23), a geometric composition from his Bauhaus years estimated at $60–80 million.

What collectors can take from it

The headline numbers will draw attention, but the more lasting lessons concern quality and history. Several Blaquier-Arrieta paintings passed through celebrated collections, including those of Albert Lasker, Norton Simon and Lord Rothschild, and the collection itself was built in close partnership with established dealers. Provenance, condition and a well-documented history shape how a work is understood at every level of the market, not only at the top.

Market observers will also be watching the depth of bidding, meaning how many collectors genuinely compete, rather than final prices alone. Guarantees arranged before a sale can make results look stronger than the bidding in the room.

If you are interested in collecting, or in art as a long-term investment, we welcome the conversation. Our team can help you evaluate a work’s quality, condition and provenance, and find pieces suited to your goals. Contact the gallery to arrange a consultation.

Sources: Sotheby’s, Legendary: The Blaquier-Arrieta Collection; Associated Press via ABC News; Artnet News; The Art Insider; Art Collector News