Rome, May 13, 2021 – Il dipinto ‘The Water Lily Pond’ (the water lily pond) by the painter Claude Monet has been sold at auction for $ 70,353,000. One of the iconic depictions of water lilies by the French impressionist artist went up for auction last night from Sotheby’s, in New York, and was sold for a record amount: over 70 million dollars, the highest price in the catalog of modern and impressionist art.
‘Le Bassin aux Nymphéas’ was bought by an anonymous client of the Gregoire Billault gallery in New York after a bullfight between five bidders and stiff competition from a Hong Kong collector. Now is the fifth most expensive Monet never sold at auction. The all-time record for Monet was set by the painting ‘Grindstones’, sold in 2019 for 110 million dollars.
The water lily pond: the story
‘Le Bassin aux Nymphéas’ was painted in 1917-19 in the Giverny country house by Monet. The imposing canvas (102 x 200 cm) was conceived for the Impressionist master’s legendary series of monumental paintings depicting his water lily pond in Giverny, the ‘Grandes Decorations’. Innovative in their almost abstract treatment of the pond’s water surface and its reflections, these later works by Monet are recognized as an important bridge between impressionism and abstract expressionism.
Monet’s work had last appeared at auction in May 2004, when it sold for $ 16.8 million at Sotheby’s in New York. Past owners include Ray Stark, a famous Hollywood and Broadway producer.
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