Monet’s Monumental ‘Iris’ Sells for €50 Million at Paris Auction

On 22 October 2026, Sotheby’s Paris held an auction featuring Claude Monet’s monumental painting ‘Iris’, which sold for €50 million including fees. This sale marked the highest price achieved for a work by Monet in France. The painting was acquired by a client bidding by phone, represented by Jen Hua, the deputy chairman of Sotheby’s Asia.

‘Iris’ is the largest painting in Monet’s celebrated Iris series. The work was consigned from the collection of Jeanne Schlumberger, who was an heir to the Schlumberger oil company. In total, 27 works from her collection were offered at the Sotheby’s Paris auction on the same day.

Among the 27 works from the Schlumberger collection, three additional paintings by Monet were included. All of the works from the collection found buyers, and three-quarters of the lots sold for prices above their high estimates.

The overall total for the Sotheby’s Paris sale reached €74.4 million with fees. This figure was well above the pre-sale estimate of €40 million, which was calculated without including fees. The strong results reflected significant interest in the works offered.

One of the other Monet paintings included in the sale was ‘Saule Pleureur’ (Weeping Willow), which had been valued between €9 million and €12 million. The auction also featured works by other artists, but the Monet paintings were among the highlights.

Shortly before the Sotheby’s auction began, three paintings by Paul Cézanne that had been classified as national treasures were withdrawn from the sale. According to Sotheby’s, this decision was made to facilitate the return of the works to Cézanne’s hometown of Aix-en-Provence.

On the same day, Christie’s Paris held a separate auction where 26 works were sold. Among these were two Monet paintings: ‘Bord des falaises à Pourville’, which sold for €12.7 million, and ‘Trois pots de tulipes’, which fetched €3.1 million. The Christie’s sale also included works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Pablo Picasso, with total sales amounting to €41.6 million including buyer fees.