I want that Monet, Monet, Monet, yeah I do!

June 25th, 2008, 5:30 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Richard Chang

Got cash?

A Claude Monet painting of water lilies sold Tuesday for $79 million (with fees) at Christie’s International in London.

Money’s, I mean Monet’s 6-foot, 7-inch-wide painting, “Le Bassin aux Nympheas,” was completed in 1919 at the artist’s home in Giverny, France. It had been expected to sell for 18 million to 24 million pounds, and sold for 40.1 million instead.

The previous auction record for Monet was set last month at Christie’s New York, where the 1873 canvas, “Le Pont du Chemin de Fer a Argenteuil,” sold for $41.5 million.

“Le Bassin” was the second-most expensive painting sold at a European auction. The Peter Paul Rubens work “The Massacre of the Innocents” sold for 49.5 million pounds in July 2002.

The Monet purchaser was Tania Buckrell Pos, a Canadian-born, London-based art advisor. She didn’t say who she bought the painting for.

Those dang Canadians! (Sorry Paul Hodgins.)

Wow, fine art is truly expensive these days. But I have no doubt that another Monet will someday sell for even more.

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