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£18 million Monet triples its estimate
By Emily Parsons 19.06.07
Phone bidders drove up the price for Claude Monet's Waterloo Bridge, Overcast Weather in £500,000 leaps
A painting by Claude Monet of Waterloo bridge fetched three times its estimated price at Christie's in London as £120 million of art went under the hammer to set a European auction record.
Three phone bidders drove up the price in £500,000 leaps last night for Waterloo Bridge, Overcast Weather. The frenzied bidding ended at £18million, including buyer's premium, and is the second highest for a Monet.
The picture, one of 70 the artist painted of London and the Thames, went to a private American collector. Fuelled by new money from Russia and Asia, the sale of Impressionist and modern art also saw:
- A second painting by Monet, Les Arceaux de Roses, Giverny, selling for just under £9 million.
- A new record for a woman artist with Russian Natalia Goncharova's Picking Apples fetching £4.9 million.
- Joan Miró's Le Coq setting a world auction record for the Catalan artist at £6.6 million.
- A total of 30 other lots selling for more than £1 million each.
Olivier Camu, international director and head of Impressionist and modern art at Christie's in London, said: "This was a landmark event in the history of the art market."
Mr Camu said prices were forced up as "an ever increasing international group of collectors fought for the exceptional selection of works". He said six of the 10 top works were bought by private European collectors.
The sale was the first in a series of five to be held in London this week. The original pre-sale estimate for the week's auctions was £172-£241 million, but last night's outstanding prices could be the start of a record week. Some have forecast-that the week could beat the £740 million sold in a group of sales in New York.
The current world record for a Monet was set in 1998 for an image from his Nympheas series when a collector paid £19.8 million at Sotheby's in London for the 1906 lily pond scene.
Jussi Pylkk‰nen, president of Christie's Europe and auctioneer for the evening, said: "The results reflect the continuing confidence and depth of the art market, with 30 works selling for over £1 million and 46 works over $1 million."
The sale follows a record-breaking start to the year when a series of high prices were achieved in London. In February Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale raised £70.4million, against a high estimate of £56 million.
