The value of the collection of paintings by Van Gogh, Cézanne and Monet could reach $450 million — what makes it special and when the auction will take place
Kyiv • UNN
Twelve paintings will be sold in New York on November 18. They include works by Van Gogh, Cézanne and Monet that have not been displayed for decades.
A collection of 12 paintings that have not been exhibited publicly for a long time—including works by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne and Claude Monet—is expected to fetch around $450 million when sold in New York in November, UNN reports, citing Reuters.
On Wednesday, Sotheby's London branch presented five of the paintings, including Cézanne's "Harlequin" and Monet's "The Tuileries Garden."
The rest of the collection is currently being shown digitally; among them is Van Gogh's "Chestnut Trees in Blossom," which is valued at approximately $180 million. Before the auction in New York, scheduled for November 18, some of the paintings will be exhibited in galleries around the world.
This is "one of the most valuable collections ever offered at auction," said Helena Newman, chairwoman of Sotheby's European division, adding that works by Cézanne and Van Gogh are likely to reach record prices.
In an interview, she called Van Gogh's masterpiece "an incredibly exciting discovery"; the artist created it late in his life in Auvers-sur-Oise, shortly after being discharged from a psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.
"The painting radiates positivity, joy and vitality. Of course, knowing what happened afterward, we understand that this was just three months before his premature death," added Newman, who also heads the international department of Impressionist and modern art.
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In addition
Cézanne's painting "Harlequin" is part of a rare series of paintings depicting Harlequin, created between 1888 and 1890. The work, which has not been shown to the public since 1975, is estimated by experts to sell for approximately $120 million.
"The three other versions of 'Harlequin' are now held in museums, making this the only remaining example in private hands," Newman said. She added that the work "paved the way for artists such as Picasso, who continued to return to the theme of Harlequin throughout the 20th century." The auction house expects the painting "Harlequin" to set a new price record for this artist in November. The current record for Cézanne's works belongs to the painting "The Card Players" (now part of Qatar's national collection); according to available information, it was purchased in 2011 for $250 million—a sum that was, at the time, the highest price ever paid for a work of art.
Most of the paintings in this collection were acquired in London in the 1970s by Carlos Pedro Blakier and Nelly Blakier de Arrieta. According to Newman, the collection is not particularly well known to the general public.
"Many of these works have not been exhibited for 50 years or more, so their appearance now is a true discovery," she said, adding that she expects a historic event when the collection is sold.
"It will be eagerly awaited and later remembered as one of the legendary collections," Newman said. "This is one of the last opportunities to acquire outstanding museum-quality examples created by the leading masters of Impressionism and modernism."