Claude Monet’s three remarkable paintings from an important American collection will be offered at Sotheby’s Evening Sale of Impressionist & Modern Art in New York on 4 November 2014. Created in the 1880s and ‘90s, the works could fetch more than $40 million when go under the hammer. The group is led by Alice Hoschedé au jardin from 1881, which the artist personally selected as his standout work from that year (estimate $25/35 million). The second is Sous les Peupliers from 1887, which is among the finest evocations of the French countryside that the artist painted in the 1880s (estimate $12/18 million).
The last one is Eglise de Vernon, solei from 1894, which is the crowning achievement from the artist’s series of paintings depicting the tranquil town of Vernon, with its resplendent reflection in the nearby Seine (estimate $7/9 million).
Simon Shaw, Co-Head of Sotheby’s Worldwide Impressionist & Modern Art Department, commented: ‘‘Claude Monet is an artist of truly global appeal – each new generation of collectors rediscovers and reinterprets this great master. We are pleased to offer three paintings of superb condition in our November sale, which together illustrate a fascinating moment in the artist’s career as he pushed the boundaries of Impressionist painting.
The result was a more structured and colorful style, in which we witness the beginning of Abstract Expressionism and other influential movements in 20th century art. The works are appearing at auction for the first time in decades, and we look forward to presenting them to collectors this autumn.’’
The three canvases will be shown in Hong Kong on 24 & 25 October before going on view at Sotheby’s New York headquarters beginning 31 October.
