Claude MONET (1840-1926)
See also : France Monet before 1900 Pond by Monet Landscape Cities Venice Flowers
Chronology : 19th Century 1870-1879 1880-1889 1890-1899 1900-1909 1905 1907 1908 1910-1919
Chronology : 19th Century 1870-1879 1880-1889 1890-1899 1900-1909 1905 1907 1908 1910-1919
1873 Train on Argenteuil Bridge by Monet
2008 SOLD 41 M$ including premium by Christie's
Shared on Wikimedia :
1881 Alice in Vétheuil
2014 SOLD for $ 34M including premium
Claude Monet developed in Argenteuil his new style of painting that became the most typical impressionism : drawing no longer exists, replaced by spots and textures while fully respecting perspective and proportions.
He leaves Argenteuil in 1878 due to financial difficulties and settles in a village further down the Seine, at Vétheuil, with his beloved wife Camille and a couple of friends, Ernest and Alice Hoschedé. The untimely death of Camille the following year rushes Alice into the arms of the artist.
In 1881, Monet paints Alice in the garden of Vétheuil. He remembers the time when the white dress of Camille was expressing purity. Alice is quietly sewing in a rich surrounding of foliage. The sunlight filtering through a large tree provides a continuity in texture between the green and the woman in light blue.
This oil on canvas 81 x 65 cm is estimated $ 25M, for sale bySotheby's in New York on November 4, lot 29.
That year marks the peak and the end of the first impressionist period of Monet. He is watched by scandal when he can no longer hide his affair with Alice, a married woman. In the following year, his long lonesome trip in Normandy makes him wish to express the variations of light in the landscape at various times of the day.
Claude married Alice in 1892, after the death of Hoschedé.
He leaves Argenteuil in 1878 due to financial difficulties and settles in a village further down the Seine, at Vétheuil, with his beloved wife Camille and a couple of friends, Ernest and Alice Hoschedé. The untimely death of Camille the following year rushes Alice into the arms of the artist.
In 1881, Monet paints Alice in the garden of Vétheuil. He remembers the time when the white dress of Camille was expressing purity. Alice is quietly sewing in a rich surrounding of foliage. The sunlight filtering through a large tree provides a continuity in texture between the green and the woman in light blue.
This oil on canvas 81 x 65 cm is estimated $ 25M, for sale bySotheby's in New York on November 4, lot 29.
That year marks the peak and the end of the first impressionist period of Monet. He is watched by scandal when he can no longer hide his affair with Alice, a married woman. In the following year, his long lonesome trip in Normandy makes him wish to express the variations of light in the landscape at various times of the day.
Claude married Alice in 1892, after the death of Hoschedé.
1891 A Stack in Winter
2016 SOLD for $ 81M including premium
Claude Monet was not a theorist. He progressed by releasing his emotion. The Impression soleil levant painted in 1872 fades within the fog the real features of the view. This painting is a burst of intuition and is described in the history of art as the cornerstone of Impressionnisme. However it took nearly two decades for the artist to jump to a still more decisive step, with the Meules.
He had been very active throughout that period. His paintings of the Gare St Lazare in 1877 constituted a series that displayed the variations in color depending on the intensity of sunlight and on the thickness of smoke from the trains. His solitary travel in Normandy in 1882 for comforting after the death of Camille is very important : Monet demonstrates to himself that lighting is better than topography for expressing a mood.
When comes the end of summer 1890 Monet is ready for a new experience. The vegetation will disappear with winter. As for every year the grain stacks will remain alone in the middle of the fields until the wheat threshing of the spring. They will be the perfect support for Monet to perform his observations of colors through all weather conditions and at all moments of time. This series totaled 25 paintings.
Three of them have been specifically grouped as a ultimate achievement of the Meules in the catalogue raisonné prepared by Daniel Wildenstein. Only one stack is visible in front of a retracted landscape. It is truncated either from top or from one side. The color emotion is not challenged by that figurative feature reduced to nothing more than a bulky triangle. In 1896, in front of one of these paintings, Kandinsky was dazzled.
Another Meule from that group of three, oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm painted in 1891, reference Wildenstein 1290, was sold for $ 12M including premium by Sotheby's on 11 May 1999. It is now for sale by Christie's in New York on November 16, lot 9 B. The targeted price was disclosed at around $ 45M by the specialized press.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's. The image below is shared by Wikimedia.
He had been very active throughout that period. His paintings of the Gare St Lazare in 1877 constituted a series that displayed the variations in color depending on the intensity of sunlight and on the thickness of smoke from the trains. His solitary travel in Normandy in 1882 for comforting after the death of Camille is very important : Monet demonstrates to himself that lighting is better than topography for expressing a mood.
When comes the end of summer 1890 Monet is ready for a new experience. The vegetation will disappear with winter. As for every year the grain stacks will remain alone in the middle of the fields until the wheat threshing of the spring. They will be the perfect support for Monet to perform his observations of colors through all weather conditions and at all moments of time. This series totaled 25 paintings.
Three of them have been specifically grouped as a ultimate achievement of the Meules in the catalogue raisonné prepared by Daniel Wildenstein. Only one stack is visible in front of a retracted landscape. It is truncated either from top or from one side. The color emotion is not challenged by that figurative feature reduced to nothing more than a bulky triangle. In 1896, in front of one of these paintings, Kandinsky was dazzled.
Another Meule from that group of three, oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm painted in 1891, reference Wildenstein 1290, was sold for $ 12M including premium by Sotheby's on 11 May 1999. It is now for sale by Christie's in New York on November 16, lot 9 B. The targeted price was disclosed at around $ 45M by the specialized press.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's. The image below is shared by Wikimedia.
1902 February in London
2015 SOLD for $ 40.5M including premium
During a brief stay in London in 1899 for family reasons, Claude Monet observed the Thames. He came back for painting on the late winter of the following year. His idea was to show the time of day as he had done for the poplars and for Rouen cathedral.
Through his window at the Savoy Hotel, Claude watches Waterloo and Charing Cross bridges in the pink fog of the morning. On one of the first evenings he sees the sunset above the neo-Gothic buildings of the Houses of Parliament and the river. Like Constable, he will be an extraordinary interpreter of the English sky.
The best view is from the garden of St. Thomas's Hospital. The artist is already famous. He easily gets the authorization to work every day in this place. Every afternoon at 4:00, he leaves the hotel to retrieve or resettle his easels at the hospital.
The light changes at every moment with the clouds pushed by the wind and the instability of the fog. As for the poplars in 1892, Claude works on several paintings in parallel, finding and catching evening after evening the same tiny ephemeral details of the sunset light. His control is total and even his method for applying his brush varies depending on the desired effect.
This project is the most amazing in the history of painting. By considering the three motifs altogether (the two bridges and the Parliament), Claude maintains a hundred paintings during this 1900 stay. He leaves London before spring when the sun is now higher and the light has changed. He returns with his paintings in the following year but snow and cold prevent a new progress.
Claude finishes his paintings at Giverny and scrupulously notes the year of completion beside his signature. He considers the whole as inseparable until the 1904 exhibition by Durand-Ruel that gets a considerable success, anticipating his famous uncompromising attitude before the first exhibition of his Water Lilies series.
The subgroup of the Parliament from St. Thomas's consists of 19 oil paintings in a unique format 81 x 93 cm. One of them is estimated $ 35M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 11, lot 24A.
Dated 1902, this painting is one of the first that was completed by the artist, perhaps because the very expressive sky is particularly exciting. Despite the clouds, the sun plays behind the high tower and the same pink shades apply to the edges of the clouds and to the reflections in the river.
The image is shared by Wikimedia:
Through his window at the Savoy Hotel, Claude watches Waterloo and Charing Cross bridges in the pink fog of the morning. On one of the first evenings he sees the sunset above the neo-Gothic buildings of the Houses of Parliament and the river. Like Constable, he will be an extraordinary interpreter of the English sky.
The best view is from the garden of St. Thomas's Hospital. The artist is already famous. He easily gets the authorization to work every day in this place. Every afternoon at 4:00, he leaves the hotel to retrieve or resettle his easels at the hospital.
The light changes at every moment with the clouds pushed by the wind and the instability of the fog. As for the poplars in 1892, Claude works on several paintings in parallel, finding and catching evening after evening the same tiny ephemeral details of the sunset light. His control is total and even his method for applying his brush varies depending on the desired effect.
This project is the most amazing in the history of painting. By considering the three motifs altogether (the two bridges and the Parliament), Claude maintains a hundred paintings during this 1900 stay. He leaves London before spring when the sun is now higher and the light has changed. He returns with his paintings in the following year but snow and cold prevent a new progress.
Claude finishes his paintings at Giverny and scrupulously notes the year of completion beside his signature. He considers the whole as inseparable until the 1904 exhibition by Durand-Ruel that gets a considerable success, anticipating his famous uncompromising attitude before the first exhibition of his Water Lilies series.
The subgroup of the Parliament from St. Thomas's consists of 19 oil paintings in a unique format 81 x 93 cm. One of them is estimated $ 35M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 11, lot 24A.
Dated 1902, this painting is one of the first that was completed by the artist, perhaps because the very expressive sky is particularly exciting. Despite the clouds, the sun plays behind the high tower and the same pink shades apply to the edges of the clouds and to the reflections in the river.
The image is shared by Wikimedia:
1905 Water Landscapes
2015 SOLD for $ 54M including premium
In 1904 Claude Monet is seduced by his own work, not as an artist but as a gardener. Water lilies are now invading his pond at Giverny. Their floating leaves constitute a perfectly flat surface which is unique as an artistic theme and the exquisite colors of the flowers meet the Art Nouveau sensitivity of the time.
The artist begins a synthesis of this new theme with his concern from the previous twenty years for the changing colors and reflections under various time and weather. He had the good fortune to catch in his own garden the most subtle theme of modern painting.
The paintings of the first year of the Nymphéas series are very rare on the art market. One of them, 81 x 100 cm, was sold for £ 18.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on 19 June 2007. In this close-up view, the edge of the pond is already off the field, also providing an impression of infinity that anticipates Mondrian.
In 1905, the water lilies are more sparse to offer a better role to reflections that became recognizable although the trees are still out of field. The plants form a floating cohort simulating a nice horizontal movement.
A view in clear weather under a gentle sun, oil on canvas 90 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 44M including premium by Christie's on November 7, 2012.
On May 5 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 81 x 100 cm, lot 30 estimated $ 30M. Also dated 1905, it shows the blocks at the water surface in an atmosphere of early or late hour providing a superb harmony of deep blues and greens.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
The artist begins a synthesis of this new theme with his concern from the previous twenty years for the changing colors and reflections under various time and weather. He had the good fortune to catch in his own garden the most subtle theme of modern painting.
The paintings of the first year of the Nymphéas series are very rare on the art market. One of them, 81 x 100 cm, was sold for £ 18.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on 19 June 2007. In this close-up view, the edge of the pond is already off the field, also providing an impression of infinity that anticipates Mondrian.
In 1905, the water lilies are more sparse to offer a better role to reflections that became recognizable although the trees are still out of field. The plants form a floating cohort simulating a nice horizontal movement.
A view in clear weather under a gentle sun, oil on canvas 90 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 44M including premium by Christie's on November 7, 2012.
On May 5 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 81 x 100 cm, lot 30 estimated $ 30M. Also dated 1905, it shows the blocks at the water surface in an atmosphere of early or late hour providing a superb harmony of deep blues and greens.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
AuctionUpdate: Sotheby's Chairmen George Wachter and Patti Wong battle for Monet’s ‘Nymphéas,' selling for $54m pic.twitter.com/4mlTAOvKY9
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) May 6, 20151905 Monet overwhelmed by his Nymphéas
2012 SOLD 44 M$ including premium
Continuously in search of the harmony of colors and lights, Monet could not ignore the water lilies. When he installed some of them in his pool at Giverny, it was for the pleasure of gardening. The infinite variety of shapes and reflections pushed Monet to make the Nymphéas his favorite subject.
Constable had been the painter of the wind. Monet was the artist of the water surface. After the development of Impressionism, the Nymphéas series is the second revolution brought about by Monet in art history.
In June 19, 2007, Sotheby's sold £ 18.5 million including premium an oil on canvas, 81 x 100 cm. Dated 1904, it demonstrates the first systematic experiments on this subject: the horizon disappears to let the water remaining alone in space. The green reflections are almost abstract, already.
The oil on canvas, 90 x 100 cm, for sale by Christie's in New York on November 7, is dated in the following year, 1905. The water lilies have a botanical accuracy, the more readable reflections are a better tribute to the pleasure of the garden. It is estimated $ 30M, and illustrated in the release shared by Artdaily.
Durand-Ruel was the first to understand and support the transformation of the art of Monet. In 1909, he assembled in an exhibition 48 Nymphéas by Monet, including the painting now for sale at Christie's. Through this unique theme, careful observers could detect the infinite variety of the artistic creation.
POST SALE COMMENT
By its date and quality, this painting is one of the most outstanding from the Nympheas series: $ 44M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's :
Constable had been the painter of the wind. Monet was the artist of the water surface. After the development of Impressionism, the Nymphéas series is the second revolution brought about by Monet in art history.
In June 19, 2007, Sotheby's sold £ 18.5 million including premium an oil on canvas, 81 x 100 cm. Dated 1904, it demonstrates the first systematic experiments on this subject: the horizon disappears to let the water remaining alone in space. The green reflections are almost abstract, already.
The oil on canvas, 90 x 100 cm, for sale by Christie's in New York on November 7, is dated in the following year, 1905. The water lilies have a botanical accuracy, the more readable reflections are a better tribute to the pleasure of the garden. It is estimated $ 30M, and illustrated in the release shared by Artdaily.
Durand-Ruel was the first to understand and support the transformation of the art of Monet. In 1909, he assembled in an exhibition 48 Nymphéas by Monet, including the painting now for sale at Christie's. Through this unique theme, careful observers could detect the infinite variety of the artistic creation.
POST SALE COMMENT
By its date and quality, this painting is one of the most outstanding from the Nympheas series: $ 44M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's :
1906 Monet and the Passion of Water
2014 SOLD 32 M£ including premium
Unsold at Christie's in 2010 with an excessive estimate, a beautiful painting of Nymphéas by Monet is now more reasonably estimated £ 20M, for sale by Sotheby's in London on June 23, lot 17.
Here is how I announced in 2010 this masterpiece that was previously sold in 2000 :
Claude Monet is the painter of the elusive. His studies of light variations have transformed the Western art. He should not be regarded as a leader, but rather as a great creator.
And the Durand-Ruel gallery was a great instigator of talent. In 1905, Monet is 65 years old, already. He departed from the excitement of the life in Paris to enjoy his garden at Giverny. An exhibition project for Durand-Ruel made his passion. The exhibition took place in 1909, and Monet found there the theme that monopolized his art until the end of his life: the water lilies in his garden.
This series of "Nymphéas" mark the total success of an impossible challenge: to show in painting the transparency of water. The flowers are seen obliquely, with perspective, lighting and reflections being different each time. They are widely spaced, and between them is coming the incredible illusion: the observer sees the surface of the water. They are not abstract, far away, but the lack of horizon has certainly influenced the non-figurative art.
On May 8th 2000, Christie's sold for $ 20.9 million including premium an oil on canvas, 90 x 100 cm. This painting has all the qualities. Made in 1906, it was one of the highlights of the exhibition of 1909. The light is established by very subtle pastel shades, and the reflections are superb.
POST SALE COMMENT
This painting is one of the masterpieces from Monet's early Nymphéas. It was sold for £ 32 million including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
Here is how I announced in 2010 this masterpiece that was previously sold in 2000 :
Claude Monet is the painter of the elusive. His studies of light variations have transformed the Western art. He should not be regarded as a leader, but rather as a great creator.
And the Durand-Ruel gallery was a great instigator of talent. In 1905, Monet is 65 years old, already. He departed from the excitement of the life in Paris to enjoy his garden at Giverny. An exhibition project for Durand-Ruel made his passion. The exhibition took place in 1909, and Monet found there the theme that monopolized his art until the end of his life: the water lilies in his garden.
This series of "Nymphéas" mark the total success of an impossible challenge: to show in painting the transparency of water. The flowers are seen obliquely, with perspective, lighting and reflections being different each time. They are widely spaced, and between them is coming the incredible illusion: the observer sees the surface of the water. They are not abstract, far away, but the lack of horizon has certainly influenced the non-figurative art.
On May 8th 2000, Christie's sold for $ 20.9 million including premium an oil on canvas, 90 x 100 cm. This painting has all the qualities. Made in 1906, it was one of the highlights of the exhibition of 1909. The light is established by very subtle pastel shades, and the reflections are superb.
POST SALE COMMENT
This painting is one of the masterpieces from Monet's early Nymphéas. It was sold for £ 32 million including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
1907 The Lengthy Evolution of Monet's Pond
2014 SOLD 27 M$ including premium
In 1893, when Claude Monet obtains the administrative authorization to create a pond in his garden at Giverny, he already knows that it will be a laboratory for his artistic creation. He was then interested in the reflections in the water of the tall trees and of the Japanese bridge.
Monet is an amateur but careful and skilled horticulturist. Without having his original preference, the water lilies impose themselves as his most prolific theme, up to obsession. Unlike the ivy on the wall, they will not cover the entire available surface. Spreading their leaves flush with water, they materialize in perspective the real surface of the pond.
From 1904 to 1908, Monet produced his first series of Nymphéas. With more than 60 paintings which he wants all different from one another, the artist expresses the most subtle variations of color and light, changing the distance and population of the flowers, the importance of the reflections from the trees and the expressive power of color.
The horizon disappears, the details become abstract but the botanical accuracy remains. One of the first trials in this new figurative style, dated 1904, 81 x 100 cm, was sold for £ 18.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on 19 June 2007.
A beautiful fleet of well colored water lilies dated 1905, 90 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 44 million including premium at Christie's on November 7, 2012.
A particularly poetic oil version in pastel tones dated 1906, 90 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 20.9 million including premium at Christie's on May 8, 2000 but failed to meet in 2010 its new estimate of £ 30M.
An oil on canvas 100 x 80 cm painted in 1907 for sale by Christie's in New York on May 6 comes in the following of that trend with soft shades more highlighting the reflections than the botany. It includes an innovation of Monet from that year : he realized that he was no longer a painter of landscapes and experienced the vertical format.
This painting is estimated $ 25M.
POST SALE COMMENT
This good example of the Nymphéas series came from the Clark collection and was fresh on the market. It was sold for $ 27M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's :
Monet is an amateur but careful and skilled horticulturist. Without having his original preference, the water lilies impose themselves as his most prolific theme, up to obsession. Unlike the ivy on the wall, they will not cover the entire available surface. Spreading their leaves flush with water, they materialize in perspective the real surface of the pond.
From 1904 to 1908, Monet produced his first series of Nymphéas. With more than 60 paintings which he wants all different from one another, the artist expresses the most subtle variations of color and light, changing the distance and population of the flowers, the importance of the reflections from the trees and the expressive power of color.
The horizon disappears, the details become abstract but the botanical accuracy remains. One of the first trials in this new figurative style, dated 1904, 81 x 100 cm, was sold for £ 18.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on 19 June 2007.
A beautiful fleet of well colored water lilies dated 1905, 90 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 44 million including premium at Christie's on November 7, 2012.
A particularly poetic oil version in pastel tones dated 1906, 90 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 20.9 million including premium at Christie's on May 8, 2000 but failed to meet in 2010 its new estimate of £ 30M.
An oil on canvas 100 x 80 cm painted in 1907 for sale by Christie's in New York on May 6 comes in the following of that trend with soft shades more highlighting the reflections than the botany. It includes an innovation of Monet from that year : he realized that he was no longer a painter of landscapes and experienced the vertical format.
This painting is estimated $ 25M.
POST SALE COMMENT
This good example of the Nymphéas series came from the Clark collection and was fresh on the market. It was sold for $ 27M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's :
1908 Haze over the Grand Canal
2015 SOLD for £ 23.7M including premium
Claude Monet stays in Venice from October 1 to December 7, 1908. At first reluctant to interrupt his studies of nymphéas, he immerses himself into the atmosphere of the city.
His view of the Palazzo Contarini, sold for £ 19,7M including premium by Sotheby's on June 19, 2013, is undoubtedly one of the earliest works of this session. The old stone of the monument and the reflections in the lapping water offer a subtle symphony of colors.
Venice succeeded in seducing Monet. Before the end of the first month, he starts one of these series of paintings that are his passion and the culmination of his art, following the cathedrals of Rouen, the haystacks and, more recently, Waterloo bridge.
In his previous series, Monet interpreted the light in various times of the day. Venice is the most subtle of his themes because the artist appreciates that the city offers every day a different harmony. He executes six times in the same format the same view of the Grand Canal in the direction of Santa Maria della Salute.
The real theme of this series is the light of Venice sifted through the haze. The famous dome and an almost imperceptible gondola confirm that such an atmosphere can only occur in Venice. Monet managed the tour de force to bring a new style in the immeasurable iconography of the city of the Doges.
One of the six views, oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm, is estimated £ 20M, for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 3, lot 15.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
His view of the Palazzo Contarini, sold for £ 19,7M including premium by Sotheby's on June 19, 2013, is undoubtedly one of the earliest works of this session. The old stone of the monument and the reflections in the lapping water offer a subtle symphony of colors.
Venice succeeded in seducing Monet. Before the end of the first month, he starts one of these series of paintings that are his passion and the culmination of his art, following the cathedrals of Rouen, the haystacks and, more recently, Waterloo bridge.
In his previous series, Monet interpreted the light in various times of the day. Venice is the most subtle of his themes because the artist appreciates that the city offers every day a different harmony. He executes six times in the same format the same view of the Grand Canal in the direction of Santa Maria della Salute.
The real theme of this series is the light of Venice sifted through the haze. The famous dome and an almost imperceptible gondola confirm that such an atmosphere can only occur in Venice. Monet managed the tour de force to bring a new style in the immeasurable iconography of the city of the Doges.
One of the six views, oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm, is estimated £ 20M, for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 3, lot 15.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
1908 Tirelessly painting the Nympheas
2015 SOLD for $ 34M including premium
From 1905 to 1908, Claude Monet is tirelessly working on the theme of the water lilies in his pond, yet all these artworks are different. The technique is in evolution throughout this period with a progressively thinner paint layer and longer brush strokes.
His focus within this subject is also changing. Controlling the effects of the surface of water, he can scatter the position of the leaves. The botanical accuracy of the blossoms is superseded by a touch closer to earlier impressionism. The rigor of perspective is no longer necessary: the horizon is pushed out of field and from 1907 the artist positions also some paintings vertically.
He still uses the process that was so successful to him in previous decades, by installing several easels and working from canvas to canvas depending on time and weather.
The main subject of the artist is not the pool but the color. The paintings executed towards the final year of this fertile period can be seen as a culmination of his research. From that time, long before the dissolution of the shapes tested at the end of his life, Monet is already a precursor to Rothko and Richter.
On November 5 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm painted around 1908, lot 22 estimated $ 30M.
His focus within this subject is also changing. Controlling the effects of the surface of water, he can scatter the position of the leaves. The botanical accuracy of the blossoms is superseded by a touch closer to earlier impressionism. The rigor of perspective is no longer necessary: the horizon is pushed out of field and from 1907 the artist positions also some paintings vertically.
He still uses the process that was so successful to him in previous decades, by installing several easels and working from canvas to canvas depending on time and weather.
The main subject of the artist is not the pool but the color. The paintings executed towards the final year of this fertile period can be seen as a culmination of his research. From that time, long before the dissolution of the shapes tested at the end of his life, Monet is already a precursor to Rothko and Richter.
On November 5 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm painted around 1908, lot 22 estimated $ 30M.
A rare Blue Period Picasso + an iconic Monet Waterlilies have joined our November sales: http://t.co/yPy4smKRK7 pic.twitter.com/6xMA4XX30Y
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) October 9, 20151919 Le Bassin aux Nymphéas by Monet
2008 SOLD 41 M£ including premium by Christie's
Shared by Wikimedia :
1919 The Garden of Victory
2016 SOLD for $ 27M including premium
Times are hard for Claude Monet. He had lost his son Jean just before the outbreak of the First World War. His sight becomes deficient. He decides to stay in Giverny whatever the future events and compensates his isolation by declaring his patriotism alongside his friend Clémenceau.
He builds in 1915 the studio in which he will create the Grandes Décorations, his new series on the theme of the nymphéas. With this project of dedicating a full exhibition room to a circular view of the pond, he is a great innovator. He does not express the nature but instead the feeling of serenity which had become so rare and precious in those tragic times.
Peace is back. Monet is a painter and he insists to contribute in the celebration of victory through his art. The Grandes Décorations modify his ideas about the composition. He experiments with two new panoramic formats, 100 x 200 cm and 130 x 200 cm, which make more sense to the focusing of the picture onto the pond with its plants and its reflections but without shore or sky.
In the wording of his time, Monet becomes a decorator, favoring effect and atmosphere rather than the figuration. In the language of our time, he is a precursor of the abstract sensitivity.
However, Monet works primarily for himself. He had not given away any significant painting since 1912. In November 1919 he nevertheless accepts to sell to Bernheim-Jeune four of his new Bassins aux nymphéas 100 x 200 cm. This set is one of the highlights of his distinguished career : one of these paintings was sold for £ 41M including premium by Christie's on June 24, 2008.
Another canvas from this group was split into two equal parts 100 x 100 cm before 1944 by an unidentified fool. The left side is now in the Tel Aviv Museum. The right side is estimated $ 25M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 12, lot 27 C.
He builds in 1915 the studio in which he will create the Grandes Décorations, his new series on the theme of the nymphéas. With this project of dedicating a full exhibition room to a circular view of the pond, he is a great innovator. He does not express the nature but instead the feeling of serenity which had become so rare and precious in those tragic times.
Peace is back. Monet is a painter and he insists to contribute in the celebration of victory through his art. The Grandes Décorations modify his ideas about the composition. He experiments with two new panoramic formats, 100 x 200 cm and 130 x 200 cm, which make more sense to the focusing of the picture onto the pond with its plants and its reflections but without shore or sky.
In the wording of his time, Monet becomes a decorator, favoring effect and atmosphere rather than the figuration. In the language of our time, he is a precursor of the abstract sensitivity.
However, Monet works primarily for himself. He had not given away any significant painting since 1912. In November 1919 he nevertheless accepts to sell to Bernheim-Jeune four of his new Bassins aux nymphéas 100 x 200 cm. This set is one of the highlights of his distinguished career : one of these paintings was sold for £ 41M including premium by Christie's on June 24, 2008.
Another canvas from this group was split into two equal parts 100 x 100 cm before 1944 by an unidentified fool. The left side is now in the Tel Aviv Museum. The right side is estimated $ 25M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 12, lot 27 C.
Art Advisors Opine on May Sales: It’s a Buyer’s Market https://t.co/TAruxZxTMA pic.twitter.com/WdVWeVFhUx
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) May 5, 2016
