Sotheby’s unveils buyer of Monet’s ‘Bassin Aux Nympheas, Les Rosiers’

Detail of Monet's 'Bassin Aux Nympheas, Les RosiersImage courtesy of Sotheby's

Sotheby’s has confirmed the buyer of Monet’s Bassin aux nymphéas, les rosiers, which sold for USD $20.41 million (HKD $159 million) at its New York Impressionist & Modern Art auction on 5 May, as China’s Dalian Wanda Group.

Unseen in the auction market for over two decades, Bassin aux nymphéas, les rosiers represents the artist at the height of his mature style, and ranks as one of the most important examples among the boldly modern works of Monet’s career, when Monet elevated the tenets of Impressionism to new heights. David Norman, Co-Head of Sotheby’s Worldwide Impressionist & Modern Art Department, commented: “Bassin aux nymphéas, les rosiers ranks amongst the best of Monet’s depictions of the brilliant, sun-struck expanse of his fabled water lily pond. […] While Monet’s first two series of paintings of the water lilies (1903-08) have long been sought by collectors, we have seen the market for the second, heroic phase (from 1913 to his final year, 1925) begin a rapid ascent due to collectors’ ever-increasing appetite for the highest quality works and fuelled by the ‘modernity’ of these mature works and their prescient nod towards abstraction. Last Tuesday’s sale offered a rare opportunity to secure a work of this calibre.”

Mr GUO Qingxiang, who is in charge of the art collection of Wanda Group, said: “We are thrilled to have acquired at Sotheby’s New York Monet’s Bassin aux nymphéas, les rosiers, which was unseen in the market for more than two decades. Wanda Group will continue to enrich its collection with works by the most significant artists in the world and remain devoted to raising the awareness and knowledge of Mainland Chinese collectors in Western art.”