Hundreds flock to Hong Kong to see rare Van Gogh unseen for over 60 years

Vincent van Gogh's "Chestnut Trees in Blossom" went on public display in Hong Kong on Tuesday (local time) ahead of its auction next month.

Hundreds of visitors crowded the Sotheby's Maison exhibition space in Central Hong Kong to see the Dutch master's work, which has not been publicly shown for more than 60 years.

According to Reuters and AFP, the painting is expected to fetch $180 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York on Nov. 18.

Van Gogh completed the work in May 1890 while staying in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, after his discharge from a psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. He died just two months later, on July 29 of that year, at the age of 37.

Works from Van Gogh's Auvers period — the final chapter of his life — are rare on the art market. The painting depicts chestnut trees in full bloom alongside three women in traditional Japanese dress and a man passing by.

After Van Gogh's death, the work passed to his brother Theo, and was later inherited by Theo's wife, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, and their son Vincent Willem.

It subsequently entered the collection of Samuel Fischer, founder of the German publishing house S. Fischer Verlag, before passing to George Buddy DeSylva, co-founder of the American record label Capitol Records.

Art collector Harriet Harris-Jonas purchased the painting in 1953, and the Blakiee family acquired it in 1975.

Scott Niichel, head of Sotheby's modern and contemporary art department, said the work is expected to set a new all-time auction record for Van Gogh.

"This is a period in Van Gogh's work that shows extraordinary optimism, frenetic energy, enthusiasm, passion and color," he said.

The painting will be offered as part of a collection of 12 long-unseen works, including pieces by Paul Cézanne and Claude Monet.