Claude Monet

1840-1926 · French · Impressionism

Auction record: $110.75M

Meules, 1890 · Sotheby's, New York · May 14, 2019

Biography

Claude Monet, born in Paris in 1840, was the central figure of Impressionism; his 1872 Impression, soleil levant gave the movement its name. He painted light and atmosphere in serial motifs, haystacks, poplars, Rouen Cathedral, London's Thames, and above all the water lilies of his garden at Giverny, where he worked until his death in 1926. For the market Monet is among the most liquid nineteenth and twentieth century names: series paintings come to auction regularly, attract buyers from the United States, Europe and Asia, and set a clear price hierarchy by motif and date. His record is Meules (1890), sold for about 110.7 million dollars in 2019, and late Nymphéas canvases routinely exceed 40 million dollars.

Recent auction results

Iris, 1924-25Sotheby's, Parigi	$56M	Oct 22, 2026	theartnewspaper.com
Nymphéas, 1907Christie's, New York	$45.48M	Nov 17, 2025	heni.com
Printemps à Giverny, effet d'après-midi, 1885Christie's, Hong Kong	$4.8M	Sep 26, 2025	en.thevalue.com
Port-Coton, Le Lion, 1886Sotheby's, New York	$6.5M	May 13, 2025	theartnewspaper.com
Peupliers au bord de l'Epte, crépuscule, 1891Christie's, New York	$42.9M	May 12, 2025	theartnewspaper.com
Nymphéas, 1914-17Sotheby's, New York	$65.5M	Nov 18, 2024	theartnewspaper.com

Market

Liquidity: High

Museums

Musée d'Orsay, Parigi
Musée de l'Orangerie, Parigi
Musée Marmottan Monet, Parigi
Art Institute of Chicago
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

News

Oct 23, 2026: $56.2 million Claude Monet “Iris” painting sets a French auction record at Sotheby’s. Artsy
Oct 23, 2026: Monet's monumental ‘Iris’ makes €50m in Paris The Art Newspaper

Sources

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