Vincent van Gogh's 'Flowering Chestnut,' completed just two months before his death, has been publicly unveiled for the first time in over 60 years. The painting is set to be auctioned at Sotheby's in New York next month, with an estimated sale price of $180 million, approximately 241.4 billion won, potentially surpassing the highest auction price for a Van Gogh work.
According to Yonhap News on October 13, 'Flowering Chestnut' was first displayed in Hong Kong ahead of its auction on November 18 in New York. This marks the first time the artwork has been shown to the public in over six decades.
Van Gogh completed the piece in May 1890 while staying in Auvers-sur-Oise after being discharged from the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France. The painting features a fully blossomed chestnut tree, three women in traditional Japanese attire, and a man passing by. Van Gogh passed away at the age of 37, just two months after finishing the work, on July 29 of the same year.
Artworks from Van Gogh's final period are considered relatively rare in the art market. Scott Nicoll from Sotheby's Modern Art Department predicts that this piece will break Van Gogh's previous auction record.
'Flowering Chestnut' was inherited by Van Gogh's brother, Theo, and subsequently passed to Theo's wife, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, and their son, Vincent Willem. It has since been owned by notable collectors, including Samuel Fischer, founder of the German publishing house S. Fischer Verlag, and George 'Buddy' DeSilva, co-founder of Capitol Records.
In 1953, art collector Harriet Harris-Jones purchased the painting, and in 1975, it was acquired by the Blakie family. This auction will feature 12 other long-unseen works, including pieces by Paul Cézanne and Claude Monet.
Hundreds flocked to the Sotheby's Maison exhibition in Central Hong Kong to view the long-hidden artwork. One visitor from Shenzhen reported traveling approximately two and a half hours to see the piece in person.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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