Sao Paulo
A painting by Claude Monet that has never been shown publicly will be the star of a Christie’s auction on November 9 and could sell for more than R$326 million, about $65 million. According to the New York auction house, the painting has been in the same private collection since 1972, which has helped it maintain its good condition.
“Le Bassin aux Nymphéas”, or Pond with Water Lilies, was created by the French Impressionist between 1917 and 1919. The painting of Monet’s Gardens at Giverny, two meters wide and one meter high, was in the artist’s estate when he died in 1926, a place that served as a home and studio.
His dedication to the garden provided countless inspirations for his work from this period, “characterized by vibrant brushstrokes and largescale compositions,” said a statement from Christie’s.
The Monet auction record was last set in May 2019, when Sotheby’s sold the 1890 landscape “Meules,” or Haystacks, for $110.7 million, more than double the high estimate of $55. million for that Plant.
In 2018, Nymphéas en Fleur, also a painting of the artist’s gardens from the same period, sold for $84.7 million at Christie’s. This price was the previous record for a work by Monet.