Van Gogh and Cézanne paintings among magnificent collection stained by allegations of abduction and killing
Twelve rarely seen masterpieces glowing with life and beauty will go on sale at Sotheby’s in New York on Wednesday.
The collection, which resembles a miniature Courtauld gallery, includes Van Gogh’s towering chestnut tree, Monet’s shimmering vista of the Tuileries and Paul Cézanne’s Arlequin, a portrait of his son in a red and black diamond-patterned costume whose angularity pushes into abstraction and must have inspired Picasso’s Harlequins.