Van Gogh's final masterpiece hidden for 60 years is expected to fetch a record-breaking $180m at Sotheby's

From the Newshound archive · first published 30 September 2026 · last updated 1 October 2026.

A Van Gogh landscape completed weeks before the artist shot himself is set to smash his auction record when it goes under the hammer in New York in November. 'Châtaigniers en Fleurs', unseen in public for 60 years, is one of only eight surviving private Auvers-period landscapes and is estimated at $180m, well above the $117m record set in 2022. The full collection of 12 works, assembled by the late Argentine collector Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier, is expected to fetch more than $450m in total at Sotheby's on November 18.

The painting was completed in May 1890 in Auvers-sur-Oise, where Van Gogh died two months later.

Paul Cézanne's 'Arlequin' portrait, unseen for half a century, carries a $120m estimate — the other three versions of the same subject are all in major museums.

Sotheby's Europe chairman Helena Newman called it a 'mini Musée D'Orsay', adding it was the finest collection she had handled in 30 years at the firm.