Van Gogh painting returns to public view after 60 years

Hundreds queued at Sotheby's Maison in Central Hong Kong on Oct. 13, 2026, for Van Gogh's Chestnut Trees in Blossom, unseen publicly for more than 60 years. Sotheby's expects about $180 million at its Nov. 18 New York sale, which could top the $117.2 million record set in 2022 by Orchard with Cypresses. The May 1890 Auvers-sur-Oise canvas shows a blossoming chestnut tree, three women in Japanese-style dress, and a passing man. Van Gogh painted it after leaving the Saint-Rémy clinic where he made The Starry Night, one of roughly 70 works from that final stretch, and died July 29, 1890, at 37, two days after shooting himself in the chest. Li Shanshan, 50, traveled hours from Shenzhen and said, "I'd never heard of this painting before, so I wanted to see it with my own eyes." Scott Nussbaum pointed to the thick paint and said, "This almost manic frenzy in the application of paint suggests that he had so much more to give and was simply rushing to get it all onto the canvas." CONTESTED: Outlets identify the Sotheby's voice as Scott Niichel, head of modern and contemporary art, or Vice Chairman Scott Nussbaum, with parallel lines on optimism, energy, passion, and color. Nussbaum said "anything is possible" on who might buy.