Vincent van Gogh's Chestnut Trees in Blossom could reach an estimated US$180 million when Sotheby's offers it in New York on November 18. VnExpress, citing AFP, reported that such a result would establish a new auction record for the artist if achieved.
Estimate ahead of the sale
Also known by its French title Chataigniers en fleurs, the 1890 painting measures 70 by 58 centimetres. It was displayed at Sotheby's Hong Kong location from October 13 to 15 before the planned New York auction.
The US$180 million figure is a pre-sale estimate. A final price, buyer and any record can only be established through the sale itself.
The report identified Orchard with Cypresses, painted in 1888, as Van Gogh's current auction record-holder, having sold for US$117.2 million at Christie's in 2022. That provides the comparison for expectations surrounding the forthcoming offering.
Ownership and artistic context
Following the artist's death, Chestnut Trees in Blossom was managed by the family of his brother Theo. Its later owners included Capitol Records co-founder George Gard de Sylva.
VnExpress cited The Art Newspaper as reporting that it entered the collection of Carlos Pedro Blaquier and his wife in 1975. After his death in 2023, the painting passed to their children.
Van Gogh completed it in May 1890 during his final period in Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris. The area's green landscape inspired work produced during an especially active stretch of painting.
Sotheby's representative Scott Niichel described the thickly layered paint as evidence of the artist's expressive energy. That assessment reflects the auction house's view of the work ahead of the November sale.