LONDON (AP) – A Venetian waterscape by Claude Monet has sold for more than $35 million at a London auction as the high-end art market shows resilience in a bumpy global economy.
“Le Grand Canal,” fetched 23.7 million pounds ($35.6 million) at Sotheby’s, though it didn’t reach the top of its pre-sale estimate of 20 million pounds to 30 million pounds.
Monet’s “Poplars at Giverny,” sold by New York’s Museum of Modern Art, fetched 10.8 million pounds ($16.2 million).
Tuesday’s Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist auction raised 186.4 million pounds ($280.2 million), the highest-ever total for a single sale in London.
Sotheby’s said bidders came from 35 countries. Wealthy collectors from emerging markets such as Russia, China and the Middle East have helped buoy prices amid the aftermath of the global financial crisis.