In May, New York’s Marquee Week will be filled with blockbuster lots. Christie's will auction Andy Warhol's masterpiece, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn – estimated at US$200 million dollars.
Sotheby's will offer Impressionist Master, Claude Monet’s Le Grand Canal et Santa Maria della Salute painting. Expected to fetch US$50 million dollars, the painting will lead the international auction house’s Modern Evening Auction.
Not exhibited for 25 years, Sotheby’s arranged a global preview for the painting. Amongst the destinations, and in celebration of the Venice Biennale; Monet’s work will return to the City of Water for a special exhibition at the Gritti Palace.
Claude Monet ￨ Le Grand Canal et Santa Maria della Salute, Oil on canvas
Created in 1908
73.5 x 92.5 cm
Estimate upon request (Expected to fetch US$50 million)
Auction House: Sotheby’s New York
Sale: Modern Evening Auction
Sale Date and Time: 17 May 2022 ￨ 6pm (New York local time)
Monet and Alice in Piazza San Marco, Venice
In 1908, Monet visited Venice with his second wife, Alice Hoschede. The couple was invited by a wealthy American lady, Mary Young Hunter, to visit her at the Palazzo Barbaro. It was here that the French artist captured some of the most iconic images of his career.
During his three-month stay, Monet painted 37 paintings with Venice as their main source of inspiration. He soon set to work on a group of paintings that expanded his traditional interest in seriality – the practice of painting the same motif at different times of the day. With a heightened degree of observation, Monet created a new approach to his series paintings – recording the same location from the same perspective – at the same time each day. This structure allowed Monet to concentrate on the visual effects produced by the shimmering haze of Venice.
Upper-middle section of the painting
Lower-middle section of the painting
View of Venice's Grand Canal and Santa Maria della Salute Church
This work was part of a series of six paintings that Monet created from the steps of the Palazzo Barbaro, looking down the Grand Canal and towards the Salute Church.
Most of these six works are in distinguished museums’ collections across the globe – including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and Fondation Beyeler in Basel. Amongst the six works, Le Grand Canal sold for £23.6 million pounds (around US$30.9 million dollars) at Sotheby’s London in 2015.
As for the painting in the upcoming auction, it will be exhibited for the first time in 25 years – the last time was at the Kimbell Art Museum in Texas in 1997.
The painting is exhibited globally in Taipei, Hong Kong, Venice, London and New York; and the preview details can be found below.
Claude Monet's Le Grand Canal (1908) ￨ Sotheby's London ￨ Sold: £23.6 million pounds, 2015
Another painting as part of Le Grand Canal series – now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Touring Exhibitions:
(The following schedule is subject to changes, please refer to Sotheby's official website for the latest information)
Taipei ￨ 27-28 March 2022
Hong Kong ￨ 8-11 April 2022
Venice ￨ 20 April 2022
London ￨ 23-26 April 2022
New York ￨ 6-17 May 2022