The $450 Million Blaquier Collection to Be Auctioned at Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s is to auction the collection of Argentine collectors Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and Carlos Pedro Blaquier, who died in 2020 and 2023.
Comprising Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works, the collection is estimated at around $450 million.
Among the announced lots is Vincent van Gogh’s Pink and white flowering chestnut tree, painted in 1890 and estimated at $150-200 million, as well as a work from Paul Cézanne’s Harlequins series, which could be valued at more than $120 million. Works by Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro and Pierre-Auguste Renoir are also expected to be estimated above $25 million.
The Blaquier family had previously sold several works from the collection, including Van Gogh’s Zouave, painted in 1888 and privately sold by Christie’s for around $190 million. In 2023, the family was sanctioned by Argentine customs authorities over the export of around a dozen paintings to Luxembourg. The case was closed in July 2026, allowing several of these works to be included in the Sotheby’s sale.
Founded in London in 1744, Sotheby’s is one of the world’s oldest auction houses. It has organised the sales of collections including that of David and Peggy Rockefeller in 2018, which reached $835 million, and Paul Allen’s collection in 2022, which sold for $1.62 billion.
Main Image: Vincent van Gogh’s Pink and white flowering chestnut tree, painted in 1890 and estimated at $150-200 million Courtesy Sotheby's