A Fabled Collection, Hidden From View, Is Up for Sale

Key Points:

• A collection of a dozen Impressionist and post-Impressionist artworks valued at nearly $500 million is set to be auctioned by Sotheby's on November 18 in New York, featuring pieces unseen for decades.
• The collection, assembled by late Argentine collector Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and her husband Carlos Pedro Blaquier, includes masterpieces by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
• Highlights include van Gogh's "Châtaigniers en fleurs," estimated at $180 million and painted shortly before his death, and Cézanne's "Arlequin," with an estimate of $120 million, both unseen in public for 50 years.
• Art experts praise the collection for its legendary status and the collectors' success in acquiring representative works from major Impressionist and post-Impressionist artists, likening it to a "mini-Musée d'Orsay."
• The artworks are being sold by the Blaquiers' children, marking the first public appearance of these rare pieces from a private South American collection.