Monet Water Lilies fetches 47 million euros at New York auction

One of French impressionist artist Claude Monet’s iconic Water Lilies painting fetched a record price earlier this week at a New York auction. The painting fetched more than 47 million euros.

One of Monet’s series Nymphéas (Water Lilies)

Monet’s 1905 oil Nymphéas, part of his famous lily pond series, beat the already-high pre-auction estimate of 39 million euros.

Five Monets fetched a total of 101 million euros but the sale was led by Vincent Van Gogh’s L’Allée des Alyscamps, which sold for 58 million euros after an intense bidding war between five buyers.

L’Allée des Alycamps painted in 1888 during the artist’s Arles period in France – just before he sliced off his ear – had been pre-sale estimated at 35 million euros.

Sotheby's auction house recorded on Tuesday its second-highest result ever for a sale of impressionist works with a total of 323 million euros.

The tremendous bidding power in the market reflects “a market that is healthy, that is efficient and incredibly vibrant, “ said Simon Shaw Sotheby’s co-head of impressionist art.

When L’Allée des Alycamps was auctioned in 2003, it struggled to make 10 million euros.

On Tuesday three of the top sales were snapped up by Asian buyers who have been driving up prices for several years.

More records are expected to be broken next Monday with Picasso and Giacometti works, respectively estimated atf 114 million euros and 123 million euros, on the block.