Monet’s "Iris" could fetch up to €30 million at Paris auction

A large painting of “Iris” by Claude Monet, completed toward the end of the French Impressionist’s life, has been valued at €22 million to €30 million ($25 million-$34 million), Sotheby’s said as it unveiled the work at its Paris headquarters.

The auction house said the valuation represents “the highest estimate ever given for a painting offered at auction in France”, according to foreign media.

The painting has remained in the Schlumberger family’s Paris home since it was acquired by Jeanne Schlumberger (1889–1983), whom Thomas Bompard, co-head of Sotheby’s art department, described as “a brilliant art collector.”

“Iris” will go under the hammer on October 22 alongside three other paintings by Monet, including “Saule Pleureur” (Weeping Willow), which carries an estimate of €9 million to €12 million.

The auction is being held in a year marking the centenary of Monet’s death on December 5, 1926. The anniversary is being commemorated with two exhibitions in Paris, “Monet, Painting Time” and “Stories of Landscapes, from Monet to Hockney,” both of which open in late September.

The Schlumberger collection, which will be exhibited in Hong Kong and New York ahead of the auction, also features three works by Paul Cézanne.

Among them is “La Ferme” (The Farm), which Sotheby’s described as “the largest work by the artist ever to be offered at auction.” The painting is estimated at €600,000 to €800,000.

By Tamilla Hasanova