The $50 million Impressionist veduta
Sotheby's has announced that its Modern Art Auction on May 17 in New York will include one of Claude Monet's painted views of the Grand Canal in Venice, expected to sell in the region of $50 million
Claude Monet - Le Grand Canal et Santa Maria della Salute - 1908
Image: Claude Monet, "Le Grand Canal et Santa Maria della Salute" (1908). Oil on canvas, 73.5 x 92.5 cm.
The painting is one of six views of the Grand Canal and the Church of Santa Maria della Salute painted by Monet in 1908, and one of three that include the steps of the Palazzi Barbaro, from where Monet painted all six views. Like J.M.W. Turner almost a century earlier, Monet seems more interested in the almost ethereal quality of the water and the atmosphere than in the spectacular baroque architecture of the church of Santa Maria della Salute. In the words of Karin Sagner-Düchting, "The Venetian palaces are Monet's last architectural motifs; but here, too, architectural forms are transformed into natural phenomena, and it was above all the magical aspect of the Venetian atmosphere that, like Turner before him, fascinated Monet" (Karin Sagner-Düchting, "Monet", 1990).
This particular work, number 1740 in the Wildenstein catalogue, was last seen at auction in May 1994, when it was offered by Sotheby's in New York with a pre-sale estimate of $7-8 million, achieving a final bid of $5.7 million.
Of course, the recent rise in value of Monet's works makes Sotheby's estimate seem quite appropriate. In 2015, another of Monet's views of the Grand Canal was auctioned at Sotheby's London for £23.7 million (about $35.6 million, or more than $42 million today taking inflation into account), a similar result to that achieved in 2019 by "Le Palais Ducal", also painted by Monet in 1908, and auctioned for £27.5 million (about $36.4 million) at Sotheby's London.
Sotheby's notes that "Le Grand Canal et Santa Maria della Salute" was last exhibited in 1997 at the Kimbell Art Museum. Before its sale in May, the painting will be exhibited in Taipei from 27 to 30 March and in Hong Kong from 8 to 12 April. It will then be shown at the Palazzo Gritti during the Venice Biennale on 20 April, before travelling to London (23-26 April) and finally to New York, where it will be auctioned.

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