NEW YORK: Claude Monet's rarely seen 'Water Lilies' sold at auction in New York for just over $27 million. The 1907 painting of his beloved Giverny, France, garden sold Tuesday at Christie's to an undisclosed bidder.
The work was part of late copper heiress Huguette (OO'-gheht) Clark's estate. It has not been publicly exhibited since 1926. Christie's is selling hundreds of items from her collection after a feud over her estate was settled in the fall.
'Water Lillies' had been expected to sell for $25 million to $35 million. Pablo Picasso's 1942 'Portrait of Dora Maar' sold for $22.5 million. Wassily Kandinsky's 1909 abstract 'Beach Scene' fetched $17.2 million.
Those works came from the estate of German collectors Viktor and Marianne Langen and were at auction for the first time.
