Claude Monet (1840-1926),
Le Parlement, soleil couchant
Oil on canvas, executed in 1902 © Christie’s Images Limited 2015 UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR $40,485,000
Claude Monet’s Le Parlement, soleil couchant, a magisterial depiction of London’s Houses of Parliament as viewed from across the River Thames, is an important highlight at Christie’s Looking Forward to the Past evening auction in New York on May 11. Monet’s views of the Thames established a new departure in his work, preparing the ground for his last, mythic feat: the Nymphéas (Water Lilies) series. Depicting a beautiful sunset over the Houses of Parliament, Le Parlement, soleil couchant belongs to a group of nineteen views that Monet started working on in 1900 and 1901. All were painted during the late hours of the afternoon and in early evenings. This example, estimated at $35-45 million, is one of only five remaining in private hands.
Jussi Pylkkanen, Christie’s Global President, remarked: “This wonderfully expressive Monet is simply one of the greatest depictions of the Houses of Parliament by the greatest artist of the 19th Century. Moreover, this picture heralds a new age in painting as artists were inspired by Monet to liberate colour and create wonderful abstractions by interpreting real subjects. One could argue that these pictures heralded the end of academic painting as artists were inspired to follow the path of abstraction from 1902 onwards. Monet was the father of modernism”.