Monet’s Irises sold in Paris for a record €50 million — RMF24

The monumental painting “Irises” by French artist Claude Monet was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in Paris, France, for €50 million. This is a record price paid for a work of art on the French auction market, RMF24 reports.

The canvas was created near the end of the artist’s life
Monet painted the work in 1924–1925, near the end of his life. The work, from a series devoted to irises in the artist’s garden in Giverny, measures 159 by 180 centimetres.

For more than one hundred years, “Irises” had not been publicly exhibited. The painting was known only from black-and-white photographs, as its owner Jeanne Schlumberger did not make the canvas available for exhibitions.

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The preliminary estimate was lower
Before the sale, Sotheby’s estimated “Irises” at €22–30 million. The painting’s first public displays took place only on the eve of the sale, in New York and Hong Kong.

The auction, titled “Time Regained,” was devoted to the collection of Jeanne Schlumberger. She purchased the paintings directly from Michel Monet, the artist’s son. Another work by Monet, “The Weeping Willow,” was also offered at the Paris auction.