Auction in New York: Record! 58.3 million euros for Monet’s water lily culture

Once again a top price was achieved with a painting by Claude Monet. Monets also hang in Stuttgart and Karlsruhe. Does Baden-Württemberg want to make cash with it?

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Stuttgart – Many a painter ran out of breath in old age. Claude Monet, on the other hand, created spectacular works in his late work: in the 1890s, when he was over fifty years old, the Frenchman began to paint pictures of water lilies. He lived on the border with Normandy and loved his garden, in which several gardeners were employed. When he sat outside with his easel, the water lilies in the pond were his favorite subject. Today these paintings from his late work are among his most sought-after.

The water lily pictures are particularly popular

At the spring auctions of Sotheby’s in New York, a top price was again achieved for the late painting “Water Lily Pond”, which was created between 1917 and 1919. It had been valued at forty million dollars. Now the water lilies from his garden have been auctioned for 70.4 million dollars – the equivalent of 58.3 million euros. Up until his death, Monet painted more than 250 water lily pictures, the large formats among them are particularly popular. The painting “Le Bassin aux nymphéas”, the original title, which has now been sold, is part of this revolutionary late work.

The museums in the country could no longer afford their Monet works today

A Monet is also on offer at Christie’s – a view of the city of London “Waterloo Bridge, effet de brouillard”, created between 1899 and 1903. The 30 million euros that the picture is valued at are priceless for museums today. That is why museums that have an original by the Impressionist in their collection are particularly careful. The large museums in Baden-Württemberg also have high-quality paintings by the French. Even if it may not be a water lily picture, there are considerable values ​​that can be shown here – and beyond pure money also of art-historical importance. After all, the painter is one of the most popular artists of all.

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