"One instant, one aspect of nature contains it all," said Claude Monet of his late masterpieces, the water lily paintings he ceaselessly worked on at his home between 1897 and his death in 1926. These canvases, representing the peak of a lifetime's study of nature, are not only one of the most important works of the artist's oeuvre but also of the Impressionist era.
On 26 September, one of the earliest iterations of such an iconic series, Nymphéas (1897-1899), will make its auction debut at Christie's 20th/21st Century Inaugural Evening at The Henderson, the auction house's new Asian headquarters. Created 125 years ago, it had remained in the Monet family for many years and is now being offered from a distinguished private collection.
The work is one of four paintings from the first Water Lilies series remaining in private hands, with the other four residing in museum collections worldwide. Carrying an estimate between HK$200 and 280 million (US$25 and 35 million), it will join the ranks of the most expensive Western artwork ever auctioned in Asia once sold.
Christie's new Asia Pacific Headquarters is located at The Henderson in Hong Kong, a newly designed building by Zaha Hadid Architects
Claude Monet (1840-1926) | Nymphéas, Oil on canvas
Painted circa 1897-1899
73.3 x 101 cm
Provenance (Consolidated by The Value):
- Estate of the artist
- Private collection
Estimate: HK$200,000,000 - 280,000,000 (US$25,000,000 - 35,000,000)
Auction House: Christie's Hong Kong
Sale: 20th/21st Century Inaugural Evening Sale
Date: 26 September 2024
Address: 6th Floor, The Henderson, 2 Murray Road, Central
In search of a permanent base he could finally call home after years of upheaval, in the spring of 1883 Monet moved his family to Giverny. There he purchased an adjacent plot of land near his property, intending to fulfill his passion for gardening, while building something ‘for the pleasure of the eye and also for the purpose of having subjects to paint’.
The result was the now world-renowned "Giverny Garden". He tore the existing kitchen garden up and began cultivating his tranquil retreat, adding a Japanese-style footbridge and a free-form pond. Around the pond was filled with towering weeping willows, iris, trees, and other seasonal flowers.
During the last 30 years of his life, Monet immersed himself in his horticultural oasis to depict the water landscapes. These works replaced the varied contemporary subjects he had painted in his early artistic career with two celebrated subjects: Japanese bridge and water lilies.
Claude Monet in his garden at Giverny
Today's Giverny Garden
In more than 250 canvases, the Impressionist master captured the changing images of the water lilies and their reflections on the pond at all hours of morning, day, and evening.
As the artist himself explained, this environment offered endless inspiration, "I have painted so many of these water lilies, always shifting my vantage point, changing the motif according to the seasons of the year and then according to the different effects of light the seasons create as they change.
And, of course, the effect does change, constantly, not only from one season to another, but from one minute to the next as well, for the water flowers are far from being the whole spectacle; indeed, they are only its accompaniment. The basic element of the motif is the mirror of water, whose appearance changes at every instant because of the way bits of the sky are reflected in it, giving it life and movement.
The passing cloud, the fresh breeze, the threat or arrival of a rainstorm, the sudden fierce gust of wind, the fading or suddenly refulgent light, all these things, unnoticed by the untutored eye, create changes in color and alter the surface of the water."
Claude Monet | Nymphéas (circa 1897-1898) | 66.04 × 104.14 cm | Collection of Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Claude Monet | Nymphéas, effect du soir (1897) | 73 x 100 cm | Collection of Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
In his first exploration of the motif, starting in 1897, Monet worked on a series of eight canvases, each varying in format, size, color, and handling as he reveled in his beloved lily pond's myriad of pictorial potentials. Half of these works are now owned by renowned museums worldwide today, including the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Kagoshima City Museum of Art, and the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome.
Standing at a remarkable 73.3 x 101 cm, the present Nymphéas introduces one of the most important and radical aspects of the series – the elimination of a horizon line. His tightly focused scene plunges the viewer into the center of the pond, removing all other peripheral details to focus entirely on the water's surface. These pictorial qualities would become central to every phase of Monet's Water Lilies series and served as key influences on subsequent generations of artists.
Claude Monet | Nymphéas (circa 1897-1898) | 89 x 130 cm | Collection of Kagoshima City Museum of Art
Claude Monet | Ninfee rosa (1897-1899) | 81 x 100 cm | Collection of Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome
Claude Monet | Nymphéas en fleur (Water Lilies in Bloom) (circa 1914-1917), 160.3 x 180 cm | Sold: US$84.7 million, Christie's New York, 2018, from the Rockefeller Collection
At auctions, the all-time high for Monet's Water Lilies stands at a whopping US$84.7 million, set by Nymphéas en fleur (Water Lilies in Bloom) (circa 1914-1917) from the Rockefeller Collection at Christie's New York in 2018.
While the present lot is unlikely to beat that record, it's rare to see a Water Lilies painting being offered in Hong Kong and once it hits its low estimate of HK$200 million, it will become the fifth most expensive artwork ever sold in Asia with a final price with fees of HK$233,375,000.
The top five most expensive artworks ever sold in Asia (as of August 2024):
- Jean-Michel Basquiat | Warrior (1982) | Sold: HK$323,600,000 (US$41.7 million), Christie's Hong Kong, March 2021
- Jean-Michel Basquiat | Untitled (1985) (Acrylic and oilstick on wood, in three parts) | Sold: HK$289,316,000 (US$37.3 million), Sotheby's Hong Kong, June 2021
- Amedeo Modigliani | Paulette Jourdain (circa 1919) | Sold: HK$272,905,000 (US$35 million), Sotheby's Hong Kong, October 2023
- Jean-Michel Basquiat | Untitled (One Eyed Man or Xerox Face) (1982) | Sold: HK$234,290,000 (US$30.2 million), Christie's Hong Kong, May 2021
- Gerhard Richter | Abstraktes Bild (649-2) (1987) | Sold: HK$214,631,000, Sotheby's Hong Kong, October 2020
Jean-Michel Basquiat | Warrior (1982) | Sold: HK$323,600,000 (US$41.7 million), Christie's Hong Kong, March 2021