VDe Vector

Monet painting fetches record price in Paris

Iris sold at Sotheby's for €50 million including fees, the highest amount ever paid at a French art auction.

Claude Monet's painting Iris was sold in Paris on Thursday for €50 million including the buyer's premium. According to Sotheby's, this makes it the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction in France.

Iris is a monumental work from 1924–1925 and forms part of a series Monet painted towards the end of his life. The canvas had been estimated at €22 million to €30 million, but after a lengthy bidding process it sold for €43 million before fees.

According to Sotheby's, the painting was offered as part of the Schlumberger family's collection. AFP reported that the work had never previously left the family's home in Paris and was mainly known to the public from a black-and-white photograph.

The sale was part of an auction of 28 Impressionist works. Sotheby's said the complete collection raised more than €74 million and that all the lots offered were sold. The record price alone does not show which factors determined interest in this work.

The buyer has not been publicly identified. AFP did report that international bidders competed by telephone. It therefore remains unclear whether the work will end up in a private collection, a museum or another public institution.

The sale price of Monet's work alone does not indicate any general trend across the art market as a whole.

The sale is also relevant to French museums and heritage organisations because several other works from the same auction were withdrawn shortly before the sale with a view to returning them to Aix-en-Provence. Iris itself is not a French national heritage work and remains in private hands, as far as is currently known.

Respond to this article

← Back to the edition