Heirs challenge Sotheby’s $180 million Van Gogh sale in New York
Why it matters: The dispute raises Nazi-era restitution questions just days before a marquee auction expected to test the top end of the art market.
Heirs of the Fischer family are challenging Sotheby’s planned sale of Vincent van Gogh’s “Châtaigniers en fleurs,” a work estimated at $180 million and scheduled for auction in New York next week. Representatives for the heirs argue the painting was sold under duress as Nazi persecution damaged the family’s publishing business before World War II. Sotheby’s says its provenance research has not established a forced sale, but the auction house is in talks with the family and is seeking a mutually satisfactory resolution. The painting, also known as “Blossoming Chestnut Trees,” is a centerpiece of the Blaquier-Arrieta Collection and one of the most closely watched lots in New York’s fall auctions.