Claude Monet's 'Irises' sells for €50 million in Paris, sets French auction record
The 1924–1925 canvas reached €50 million at Sotheby's in Paris on October 23, 2026, a new French auction record.
Claude Monet's painting "Irises" was sold for €50 million at an auction in Paris on October 23, 2026, establishing a new record for the highest price ever paid at auction in France.
Auction details
The work, executed in 1924–1925, attracted six bidders and the competition lasted for more than an hour before an Asia-based collector participating by telephone won the lot.
Sotheby's had initially estimated the canvas would fetch between €22 million and €30 million, but strong international interest pushed the final hammer price to €50 million.
The previous French auction record dated to 2010, when Amedeo Modigliani's "Head of a Caryatid" sold for €43.2 million.
Specialists say the sale underlines how masterpieces by celebrated painters continue to draw large investments on the global art market.
The Paris auction closed with the unusually high final price confirming sustained appetite among collectors and investors for major Impressionist works.
Photo: artnewspaper.fr
