Three remarkable paintings by Claude Monet from an important American collection will come up at Sotheby’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern art in New York on November 4. Created in the 1880’s and ‘90’s the works trace the evolution of Monet’s style as he challenged the limits of High Impressionism and experimented with an approach that would culminate in the Series Paintings of his later years. Together they are estimated to achieve more than $40 million.
The group is led by Alice Hoschedé au jardin from 1881, which the artist personally selected as his standout work from that year ($25/35 million). She was his 37 year old lover and the wife of his close friend Ernst Hoschedé. Painted in 1887 Sous les Peupliers, a fine evocation of the French countryside, is estimated at $12-18 million. Eglise de Vernon, soleil from 1894 is one of a series of the town of Vernon on the banks of the Seine. It is estimated at $7-9 million. Following a special viewing in Hong Kong this weekend the paintings will go on display in New York from October 31.
UPDATE: The three works totaled $61.9 million, led by Alice Hoschedé au jardin from 1881 which made $33,765,000 million.