A Vincent van Gogh painting displaying the artist's shift from dark realism to vibrant impressionism could become the most expensive Western painting sold in Asia if it fetches its top estimated value of $50 million at a Hong Kong auction on Thursday.

"Les canots amarres" -- or "the moored boats" -- will be the centerpiece of an inaugural evening sale held to celebrate the opening of auction house Christie's new Asia Pacific headquarters.

According to Christie's, it could fetch between HK$230-380 million (US$30-50 million) on the auction floor.

To date, the most expensive Western painting sold in the region is "Warrior" by Jean-Michel Basquiat, the auction house said.

It had the Christie's gavel dropped at HK$323.6 million -- roughly US$41.9 million at the time -- in Hong Kong in 2021.

Owned by the Italian royal family of Bourbon Two Sicilies, the Van Gogh painting is "the most important painting by the artist ever to be offered in Asia", Christie's said in its introduction. 

"'Les canots amarres' marks a vital stepping stone in his career," it said. 

The painting is one of about 40 works Van Gogh developed around the scenic French town of Asnieres, a boating hub on the outskirts of Paris, during the summer of 1887.

With those paintings, "he left behind for good the dark, earthy tones of his realist pictures of old. He now adopted a vibrant palette and loose expressive brush instead," said Christie's.

In a letter to his sister Willemien in October 1887, the artist wrote: "When I painted landscape in Asnieres this summer, I saw more colour... than ever before."

Princess Camilla of the House of Bourbon Two Sicilies called it a painting "of incredible history in the very particular moment of the artist's (career)", according to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.

She said she chose the Chinese city for the sale to tap into the Asian market's "strong and expanding base of collectors who are increasingly interested in Western art".

Born in the Netherlands in 1853, Vincent van Gogh was among the most famous and influential figures in Western art. He created around 2,100 pieces, including about 860 oil paintings, in a career that lasted only a decade before his death in 1890. 

Christie's high-profile auction on Thursday will also feature 45 other masterpieces from the 20th and 21st centuries -- ranging from the French impressionist painter Claude Monet to the England-based street artist Banksy.