Palm Beachers may know the Blaquier name through polo, thanks to Delfina Blaquier and Nacho Figueras. But another branch of the prominent Argentine family is about to make headlines for an entirely different reason.
The extraordinary collection assembled by the late Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and Carlos Pedro Blaquier is reportedly headed to Sotheby’s, with an estimated value of around $450 million. Once described by The New York Times as Argentina’s largest private art collection, it includes Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and more.
The collection was shaped by the rarefied world in which Nelly and Carlos lived. Nelly was the sole heir to Ledesma, the century-old Argentine sugar and agricultural empire, which Carlos led for more than four decades.
A formidable collector and cultural patron in her own right, Nelly served as president of the Friends of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes for more than three decades, helping build a collection that extended well beyond Impressionism to Renaissance bronzes, pre-Columbian art, antique arms, and 18th-century silver.
Among the potential stars of the sale is Van Gogh’s 1890 Chestnut Tree in Pink and White Blossom, which one art advisor estimates could fetch between $150 million and $200 million, as well as a Cézanne harlequin that could command more than $120 million. A Degas horse-racing scene, a Pissarro view of Paris, and Renoir’s En canot are each expected to bring more than $25 million.
While Sotheby’s has yet to reveal the full selection, anticipation is already building across the international art market, as major single-owner collections of this scale rarely appear. We’ll be watching closely as more details are unveiled in the coming weeks.
