Monet Painting Sells For Record $80.4 Million

LONDON — A water lily painting by Claude Monet sold for more than $80 million Tuesday, breaking the auction record for the French impressionist artist, Christie's said.

"Le bassin aux nympheas," or "Water Lily Pond," which sold for $80,451,178, was part of a four-work collection of water lily paintings that Monet put up for sale during his lifetime.

The four large-scale paintings of Monet's water lily garden were signed and dated by the artist in 1919. One of the other paintings is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, while another was sold at auction in 1992 for $12.1 million and is in a private collection. The final painting in the series was cut into two before World War II.

"After a thrilling bidding battle between a number of clients in the room and on the telephones, the painting eventually sold to an anonymous collector for 41 million (British pounds), setting a new world record price for the artist at auction," said Olivier Camu, Christie's director of impressionist art.

The previous record for a Monet work was set in May when "Le Pont du chemin de fer a Argenteuil" sold for $41.4 million.

The painting sold Tuesday was purchased in a 1971 New York auction for $320,000. It has not been publicly exhibited since.

The bold brushstrokes in the painting are characteristic of Monet's later works, especially his "Grandes decorations," a 22-panel work of water lily paintings that was installed in Musee de l'Orangerie in Paris five months after Monet's death in 1926.

Monet created his water garden in Giverny, France by rerouting a river. He selected different hybrids of water lilies in an effort to get as many different colored flowers as possible, deliberately creating the garden as a motif for his paintings.

Tuesday's auction begins a week of major modern-art sales at Christie's and its rival Sotheby's, as the international market continues to set records despite global economic troubles.

The Christie's auction also features a rare pastel work by French impressionist Edgar Degas showing two ballet dancers. It is expected to fetch $8 million to $12 million.

Comments

[ugmold]

Funny how the "Rich" buy art while they look at contemporary artists as bums.

[MagisterLudi]

OK, confession I BOUGHT IT!
Yes, I done wrong, but the society is to blame.
I just need somethin' to hang in my boudoir. I considered a poster but phew not pukka sahib at all.

[MagisterLudi]

Socialists and communists always state that the art belongs to the people.
Most, if not all, great art in Soviet Union China and other socialist countries was displayed in the museums.

Many of the places formerly occupied by the royalty and other idle rich were turned into museums ( Winter Palace).
Come to think of it most of the churches ( w/ exception of some historically important ones) mosques and synagogues were turned into societally useful buildings--offices, museums etc.
Hey, what a great idea.

In addition, socialist countries did not recognize copyright laws.

[SILVANUS]

Obviously not as cool as Justin Timberlake's radical 'FutureSex' CD, or the latest retro-recycle-spin from Tarantino. We all know they will be worth TRILLIONS one day!

Just kidding.

Business minds can be such swine sometimes.

[MissingAmerica]

Can you imagine how many lives would have been saved or improved with that amount of money? This is such a sad statement on our misplaced priorities.

[Kalima]

The world would surely change, if we could replace the word ME to WE.

[Kalima]

How many people would this amount feed?

[MagisterLudi]

Great art is priceless and should not be compared to some poverty reduction social programs.

There will be poor always, but Mona Lisa is irreplaceable.

[salespud]

How many people could this educate to stop having babies that they can not possibly feed? There are already too many people on this planet. We need to figure out a way to feed and educate them so that there is a possiblity in the next few generations that they could become self sufficient. While John Lennon's "Imagine" was a great song...it is still just a pipe dream. Great fortunes have always existed on this planet. The value of anything is what someone is willing to pay. If you spend all of your extra income helping others I applaud your generosity...if not, do not disparage others about how they choose to spend their money.

[sa]

artists are all usually poor their entire lives and careers,
but businessmen and collectors make a fortune off them
after they've died.

what a metaphor for capitalism -
the beautiful die poor or marginalized,
while the wealthy steal the beauty of their souls
to make a fortune.

p.s. businessmen almost never cut off their ears. but all of them die to the obscurity of time.

[MagisterLudi]

sapostedL"all of them [wealthy businessmen] die to the obscurity of time."

Right....
Crassus, Rockefeller, Rothschilds, Morgan, Carnegie, Midas ( donkey ears notwithstanding), King Saud, Vanderbilt, Osman Ali Khan, Henry Ford....hmmmmmm

[Synoia]

Not a real record. Inflation adjusted this painting just sold for $1.20.

[orangepetal]

Monets waterlilies are my favorite paintings, they have some great Art in The Art Museum in Chicago.
80 mil, Wow.

[chattypatra]

Talk about making a profit!

[andvoodoo2]

WOW! This is exciting. Here's hoping the buyer will allow this painting to be publicly displayed, at least periodically.