Rarely seen Monet auctioned for $27M

A Claude Monet painting out of the public eye for decades sold Tuesday for just over $27 million, leading the bidding at an auction of art from the estates of heiress Huguette Clark, businessman Edgar Bronfman and other major collectors.

Nymphéas," one of the artist's seminal water lilies paintings, is a 1907 rendition of his beloved garden in Giverny, France. It went to an undisclosed Asian buyer in the season-opening auction of impressionist and modern art at Christie's. The painting, part of Clark's collection since 1930, has not been publicly exhibited since 1926.

Christie's is selling hundreds of items from Clark's collection after a feud over her estate was settled in the fall. The Montana copper mining heiress died at 104 in 2011. Her father, U.S. Sen. William A. Clark, founded Las Vegas.

Art from other estates, including works by Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso from the collection of the late billionaire Bronfman, also changed hands. The Canadian-American, a former head of Seagram Co. and longtime president of the World Jewish Congress, died late last year.

All told, Christie's sold 47 pieces Tuesday, raising more than $285 million. Brooke Lampley, head of Impressionist and modern art at Christie's said the sale was marked by "bids from every part of the world." Collectors from 36 countries had registered.

Asian buyers nabbed at least two of the sale's top 10 lots, including "Nymphéas", reflecting "a growth in the Asian (art) market generally," said Lampley.

Nonetheless, bidding was measured and the salesroom atmosphere somewhat muted, with most of the top lots selling for below the pre-sale estimates. None of the sales eclipsed the artists' auction records.

Like the Monet, Picasso's "Portrait de femme (Dora Maar)," the evening's second-highest priced work, fell short of expectations, fetching $22,565,000 including commission.

Christie's had estimated both works to sell for $25 million to $35 million. Estimates do not include commission of just over 12 percent.

The 1942 Picasso and Wassily Kandinsky's 1909 abstract "Beach Scene," which sold $17.2 million came from the estate of German collectors Viktor and Marianne Langen and were at auction for the first time.

Amedeo Modigliani's 1919 portrait "Young Man," part of a private American collection, sold for $17.6 million.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "Young Women Playing Badminton," another work from the Clark estate, sold for $11.4 million. The prices include the buyer's premium.

Wire services