PAINTING BY MONET OF THE SEINE RIVER SOLD FOR $18.5 MILLION AT AUCTION
The well-known painter Claude Monet gained notoriety for his preoccupation with natural scenes both during his lifetime and among his Impressionist contemporaries. Though he is most recognised for his paintings of the water lilies at his Giverny residence, he also saw beauty in other aspects of the natural world and man-made structures like seascapes, cathedrals, and haystacks. The Seine River appears frequently in Monet's paintings. He created his hazy, cool-toned Matinée sur la Seine, temps net (morning on the Seine, clear weather) over 20 times, using different colour schemes to capture the shifting light of the natural world.
Among other collections, the White House in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York all have some examples of this series. A painting from this series brought an astounding $18.4 million at Christie's in March 2024.
Painted between 1896 and 1897, this Matinée sur la Seine temps net series depicts the riverbanks. On a boat, Monet set up his own studio so he could observe the selected viewpoint. His paintings, which are magnificent representations of Impressionists' handling of light, mirrored the changing light and weather. Then, in 1898, a large number of the pieces were shown at the Galerie Georges Petit. The artwork also reflects Monet's developing affection for Giverny, the charming town he settled in during his middle years and spent the remainder of his life there.
Instead of focusing on the busy centre of Paris, the painting series concentrated on the area where the Seine passes by. A sunny day starting to break over the river with fluffy clouds just peeking out is depicted in the recently auctioned piece. After seeing the paintings and speaking with the painter, modern critic Maurice Guillemot called the series "a marvel of contagious emotion and intense poetry."
This particular piece was last up for auction in 1978, when it was bought by an unidentified buyer. Although this sale brought in a substantial amount, it was nothing compared to some of Monet's other pieces—a 2023 auction of a painting of water lilies brought in $74 million. Getting your hands on a Monet from this series, regardless of price, is a unique opportunity.