£30 million Monet Water Lily?

The Guardian reports that 'a breathtaking waterlily painting by Claude Monet was today added to one of the most anticipated series of high-end art sales for years. Both Christie's and Sothebys are set to sell some exceptional works at their June sales of impressionist and modern art. Christie's, announcing the addition of the French painter's Nymphéas (1906) to its catalogue, said its 23 June art auction would be the most valuable ever take place in London. The painting has an estimate – arguably a conservative one – of between £30-40m. The estimates of all 63 works in the sale add up to £163m-£231m. Some astonishing prices have been paid for art at auction this year. The record price for any work was broken first in London in February – a Giacometti 'Walking Man' sculpture sold for £65m – and then once more in New York when a Picasso sold for $106m (£70m). Giovanna Bertazzoni, head of impressionist and modern art at Christie's, London, said there was a "fierce international demand" for the "rarest and the best." He added: "The strong results at our art auctions over the last year, and during the last six months in particular, have further fuelled the confidence of vendors. We are witnessing a great willingness from clients to consign works of art of the highest quality." The Monet up for sale was part of his famous exhibition of waterlily paintings held at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in Paris in 1909. Robert E Dell, the Paris correspondent of the Burlington Magazine, wrote, rather excitedly, at the time: "One has never seen anything like it. These studies of water lilies ... are beautiful to a degree which one can hardly express without seeming to exaggerate." The work being sold is one of nine surviving pieces painted by Monet in 1906. It has spent most of its life in the collection of the Durand-Ruel family and was bought by the present anonymous owner at auction in 2000'. Other highlights of the Christie's sale include a Picasso, 'Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto', being sold by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation with an estimate, also, of £30-40m. Deep-pocketed art-lovers can also bid on works by Klimt, Van Gogh and Matisse. For full source and full article click the Headline. Irish Art