When the value of a collection of just 12 artworks is estimated at $450 million, it can be assumed that one is dealing exclusively with top-tier art. And that is precisely the case when Sotheby's brings 12 masterpieces from the Blaquier-Arrieta Collection to the auction stage in New York on November 18, 2026.
The remarkable collection was assembled by the married couple Carlos Pedro Blaquier (1927–2023) and Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier (1931–2020). Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier was the sole heiress of the Argentine sugar company Ledesma. In 1951, she married Carlos Pedro Blaquier, who took over the management of the company in 1970. Soon after, the couple began traveling regularly to London, then the center of the art market, and acquired many masterpieces. Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier was particularly passionate about the collection. She was a dedicated patron of the arts and culture both in Argentina and internationally, serving as President of the Friends of Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, as well as a member of the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the International Committee of the Friends of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Furthermore, the philanthropist supported projects in the fields of education and medicine.
On September 30, 2026, Sotheby's unveiled four paintings from the collection in London. Helena Newman, Sotheby's Chairman, Europe and Chairman, Impressionist & Modern Art Worldwide, commented: "There is something magical about unveiling highlights of the Blaquier-Arrieta collection here in London, where so much of it was originally acquired. To see these paintings here is to step back into the 1970s, when the walls of dealers like Lefevre were replete with treasures of a caliber now only rarely to be found. The collection is a time capsule of that golden moment, and it is our great privilege to now open it up to the world."
Many of the works had not been on public display for decades, including the two top lots by Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne, which could set new records in November.
Vincent Van Gogh is represented by Châtaigniers en fleurs, a masterpiece he painted in May 1890, shortly after being placed in the care of Dr. Gachet in Auvers-sur-Oise. There he would spend the last two months of his life. Following the Arles Crisis—including the severed ear—and the subsequent stay in the Saint-Rémy asylum, the final weeks of Van Gogh's life proved to be an exceptionally productive period. Châtaigniers en fleurs was one of the first paintings Van Gogh completed during this final chapter of his life and is one of only eight paintings from this period in private hands. The Blaquier couple acquired it in 1975 at Wildenstein in New York, where it was last publicly displayed. Châtaigniers en fleurs will be auctioned in November with an estimated price in the region of $180 million. The current auction record for Vincent van Gogh was set in November 2022 at Christie's New York where Verger avec cyprès (1888) sold for $117.2 million as part of the Paul G. Allen Collection auction.
See also: The Dramatic Events Surrounding Van Gogh's Sunflowers
Paul Cézanne's Arlequin was also acquired by the Blaquiers in 1975, though from Lefevre in London. It is the only one of the four paintings in the Harlequin series in private hands. Made between 1888 and 1890, the series is considered one of Cézanne's most impressive portrait projects, for which his son Paul sat as model. The current auction record for Paul Cézanne was also set in 2022 at the Paul G. Allen auction. At that time, the landscape painting Montagne Sainte-Victoire, created at the same time as the Harlequin series, fetched $137.8 million. Whether Arlequin, which will be offered in November with an estimated price of around $120 million, can surpass that record remains to be seen, but it is certainly within the realm of possibility.
See also: Discover the Results of Christie's Billion-Dollar Night
"These are two of the finest works either artist made, painted within a few years of each other, and unseen for half a century," said Julian Dawes, Sotheby’s Vice Chairman, Head of Impressionist & Modern Art, Americas. "For a generation that has known these paintings only through the pages of catalogues raisonnés, they have become almost mythical. To offer either one would be a career highlight. To offer both, in a single sale, is something truly extraordinary."
Another highlight of the collection is Pierre-Auguste Renoir's En Canot (Jeune fille à la barque) from 1877 (estimated at $25-35 million), which is now appearing on the auction market for the first time. It is believed to depict Renoir's then-preferred model, Marguerite “Margot” Legrand, who also appears in his masterpiece Bal du moulin de la Galette, painted the previous year.
See also: Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Joie de Vivre on the Canvas
Also worth highlighting are two wonderful views of Paris during the Belle Époque, painted by Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro, who each set up their canvas at an elevated vantage point in the French capital.
Pissarro painted La Place du Théâtre-Français et l'avenue de l'Opéra, soleil d'après-midi en hiver in 1898 from the window of a room in the Grand Hôtel du Louvre (estimated price: $30-40 million). Monet, 22 years earlier, was in a fifth-floor apartment on the Rue de Rivoli. From there, he had an excellent view of the once-royal gardens, which he captured in the vibrant masterpiece Le Jardin des Tuileries (estimated price: $15-20 million).
See also: Claude Monet: The Father of Impressionism
The remaining works from the Blaquier-Arrieta Collection that will come up for auction on November 18 are Edgar Degas' pastel Avant la course (ca. 1893; estimate $20-30 million), Paul Gauguin's Fleurs dans und coupe (ca. 1899-1901; estimate $10-15 million), André Derain's Bateaux au port de Collioure (1905; estimate $8-12 million), as well as Alfred Sisley's La Seine à Port-Marly, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's Femme assise de profil vers la gauche, Maurice de Vlaminck's Nature morte à la cruche bleue, and Pissarro's Maison de Piette à Montfoucault, effet de neige.
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