Hidden painting by Claude Monet valued at $65 million: “A masterpiece rediscovered”

“The Bath of the Nymphaeum” was called “a rare thing”

A previously unseen painting by Claude Monet, which experts call a rare masterpiece, is expected to fetch more than $65 million at a New York auction.

A previously unseen Claude Monet painting that goes on sale in New York early next month is expected to fetch more than $65 million, auction house Christie’s said in a statement.

According to CNNthe two-metre-wide painting entitled “Pool of Nymphs” or “Water Lily Pond” is part of Monet’s famous “Water Lilies” series, depicting the reflections of water lilies and willows reflecting light on water.

Painted around 1917-1919, the painting dates from the last period of Monet’s life, when he created a series of works depicting water lilies that now hang in museums around the world.

And after nearly a lifetime of studying color and light, the painting “captures the dynamism and beauty of nature’s transience, exploring ephemeral atmospheres, seasonal blooms, watery depths and shimmering reflections of light,” the auction house said in a statement.

Until now, the painting had remained in the same family collection for more than 50 years, “immaculately preserved and hidden,” Max Carter, Christie’s vice chairman of 20th and 21st century art, said in a statement.

“In the case of Monet, it would seem that everything has already been seen or said,” Carter added. “The Bath of the Nymphaeum,” which has never been exhibited or offered at auction, is nevertheless a rare thing: a rediscovered masterpiece.”

The painting will be offered at Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale on November 9, CNN reports.

As a leader of the Impressionist movement, Monet had a significant impact on the art world, influencing his contemporaries such as Vincent van Gogh as well as later Abstract Expressionist artists such as Jackson Pollock.

His paintings, CNN notes, are now emblematic of Impressionism itself, having shed early criticism to become some of the most recognizable works of art in the entire world.

Significant Monet paintings have previously fetched staggering amounts of money at auction. Another painting from the “Water Lilies” series was sold at Christie’s for $84.7 million in May 2018, while a painting from the “Haystacks” series was sold at Sotheby’s a year later for $110.7 million.