Overview
- Sotheby's sold Claude Monet's previously unseen painting 'Iris' for €50 million in Paris on Thursday, a figure the auction house says is the highest price ever paid at auction for an artwork in France.
- The painting came from the Schlumberger family and was reportedly bought by collector Jeanne Schlumberger directly from Monet via a gallerist and kept in the family's Paris residence for decades without public display.
- Sotheby's had estimated 'Iris' at €22–30 million before the sale, making the final price a clear outperformance that signals strong demand for Monet's late garden works.
- Hours before the Sotheby's sale, three Paul Cézanne paintings were withdrawn so they could be returned to Aix‑en‑Provence for possible display at the Musée Granet, highlighting local efforts to reclaim works for public exhibition.
- A parallel Paris sale at Christie's that same day sold two other Monet works for €12.7 million and €3.1 million, underscoring active competition between major houses and the market premium for strong provenance.