Monet haystack painting takes record $107 million

A Claude Monet painting has sold at auction for a record-breaking A$107.5 million at Christie's in New York City.

Monet’s “Meule” oil on canvas painting, part of the artist’s famous grainstack series, was sold on Wednesday.

The final price of A$107.5 million, which includes fees and commission, crushed Christie's pre-sale estimate of A$60 million

The auction lasted nearly fifteen minutes, an unusual length for a sale of this format.

A woman in the room stayed in the running for some time before making a last offer of A$70 milliion before leaving it to buyers being handled over the phone.

This painting, of just one haystack with a conical top, at twilight, is part of the series of grainstacks painted by Monet during the winter of 1890-1891 from his house in Giverny, Normandy.

It is one of the rare works in this series to still be in private hands, Christie's said.

The staggering sale price has smashed the previous record for a work by the French Impressionist.

"Bassin aux nympheas", or "Water Lilies", took A$106 million at a sale in London in June 2008.

In recent years, prices for works by Monet or other celebrated Impressionists have skyrocketed.

With AFP