Monet's mega May
May 31 2022
Picture: Christie's
On the Live Art blog, Marion Maneker points out that in just one month, auction sales of paintings by Monet have achieved a record $310m:
More art by Claude Monet was sold in New York’s May sales than trades in even the biggest years for the artist. A full $310 million was traded for Monet paintings last month. That’s more than sold in 2019, a banner year for the artist. Though only a few of the works were bid above the estimates, one of the most prominent works sold in May was Anne Bass’s view of the Houses of Parliament (above) painted by Monet during a sojourn at the Savoy hotel in London during 1904. The Bass painting made $75.9 million.
The estimate for the Bass Monet was $40m-$60m. So what's going on? There seems to be a mini art boom happening. For NPR, Robert Griffiths looked at some of the recent prices, with a few comments from market observers (including me).
