News
Paris: Two rare Claude Monet paintings returned to the spotlight after a long disappearance from public view, after Sotheby’s sold them in Paris at its modern and contemporary art auction on the evening of April 16, achieving more than €16.6 million combined! The two works are Les Îles de Port-Villez, painted in 1883, and Vétheuil, effet du matin, painted in 1901, both directly tied to Monet’s fascination with the Seine and its shifting light!
Details
• Sotheby’s listed Les Îles de Port-Villez with an estimate of €3 million to €5 million. It is an oil painting Monet executed in 1883, and it had once belonged to art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel before later passing down within the family of the current owners!
• Sotheby’s records show that the painting was exhibited in Montreal in 1906, then in New York in 1907 and 1911, before disappearing from public circulation for many decades!
• Vétheuil, effet du matin, meanwhile, achieved €10.2 million, and Sotheby’s said it set a new record for a Monet work sold at auction in France!
• Sotheby’s described the two paintings as rediscovered works, while art coverage indicated that they were among the most important Monet works to reach auction in France since 2001!
• The timing of the sale adds symbolic significance to the auction, as it comes in the year marking the centenary of Monet’s death, which boosted both market and institutional interest in his work in France!
What next?
The question now is whether the sudden reappearance of other hidden works from private collections will push the Impressionist market toward a new wave of offerings during 2026, especially after the record price achieved by Vétheuil, effet du matin in France!
Sources: Sotheby’s, Reuters Connect, Artnet, Euronews.
