GORGEOUS MONET PAINTING SELLS IN NEW YORK FOR A WHOPPING $38.4 MILLION

The world-famous late painter Claude Monet's works are expected to be extremely popular this year. The Impressionist's masterwork from the Seine River went for an astounding $18.5 million at auction in March. And now, after only two months, one of his charming paintings of hay bales has sold for an incredible $38.4 million, topping the list at the New York City auction where it was bought.

Meules à Giverny, which translates to "The Stacks at Giverny," is a painting by Monet that was done in 1890 and 1891. It is one of a series of hay bale paintings. They prominently depict the lives of the local French farmers of the era and are regarded as some of the artist's most well-known pieces. In this particular piece from the series, sunlight dances between the branches and leaves of a row of pretty trees, casting long shadows across a large reddish-purple stack of hay.

The painting's widespread appeal paid off, as numerous bidding wars broke out and it was sold in just eight minutes. The same company that sold this painting, Sotheby's, also set a new artist record in 2019 when it auctioned off another of Monet's hay bale paintings for $110.7 million. In the end, the auction brought in $235 million, with Monet selling first, followed by pieces by Leonora Carrington and René Magritte.