Among the most famous paintings in art history and Impressionism are Claude Monet's Water Lilies, to which the artist dedicated the last 25 years of his career. Monet found his beloved motifs in the garden of his house in Giverny, where he lived as a tenant for the first seven years and then as owner with his family from 1890.
See also: Claude Monet: The Father of Impressionism
The garden featuring the water lily pond held a special place in his heart. He had a variety of exotic flowers planted, and a team of dedicated gardeners meticulously cared for them, with some exclusively tending to the water lilies. As his focus shifted increasingly towards the water lily pond, his art shifted from landscape motifs to detailed shots, abandoning formal elements like a horizon line. Instead, the vertical dimension was created solely through the reflections of the sky and the plants and trees along the bank.
Over time, Monet's water lily paintings became grew larger in size. The eight water lily paintings that Monet donated to the French state, on display at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris, each measure 6.5 x 20 feet.
One of the highlights of Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale on 9 November in New York will be a Monet water lily painting spanning over 6.5 feet wide. This particular artwork, Le bassin aux nymphéas, was created between 1917 and 1919, a pivotal period during which Monet was deeply engaged in experimenting with this motif.
See also: Monet’s Blue Angel
"With Monet, seemingly everything has already been seen or said," says Max Carter, Christie’s Vice Chairman of 20th and 21st Century Art. Le bassin aux nymphéas, which has never been exhibited or offered at auction, is, however, that rarest thing: a masterpiece rediscovered. Thickly worked, impeccably preserved and hidden away in the same private collection since 1972, Le bassin aux nymphéas remains as astonishing today as it was 100 years ago."
Le bassin aux nymphéas is expected to gross $65 million (around £53 million). The current auction record for one of Monet's water lily paintings was set at Christie's in 2018 during the auction of the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller, when Nymphéas en fleur changed hands for $84.7 million (£61.4 million).
See also: The 10 Most Expensive Artworks of 2018
Further highlights of the 20th Century Evening Sales include works by Mark Rothko, Francis Bacon, Arshile Gorky and Pablo Picasso, as well as three drawings by Egon Schiele. The Schiele drawings were restituted to the heirs of the Viennese cabaret artist Fritz Grünbaum, who was murdered in the Dachau concentration camp in 1941. Three additional Schiele drawings of the same provenance will be on sale at Christie's Impressionist and Modern Works on Paper Sale in New York on 11 November.
