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Monet painting sets record at auction

25/06/2008

A Claude Monet painting has fetched a record £40.9 million at a London auction.

Le Bassin Aux Nympheas had been expected to fetch only half the amount when bidding began at Christie's on Tuesday.

The identity of the winning bidder has not been made public.

The painting was produced in 1919 in Giverny, France, and prior to yesterday had only been seen in public once in 80 years.

Monet's Le Pont du chemin had held the previous price record at auction, at £20.9 million.

The final price reached in the auction room for the Le Bassin Aux Nympheas yesterday was £36.5 million, but it later rose to over £40 million when taxes were added.

"There's never been such a picture sold at auction in Europe in the last 20 years," Oliver Camu of Christie's said.

"This evening's auction realised the highest total for any art auction ever held in Europe, and illustrates the continuing strength and confidence of the art market."

Experts claim the auction shows that the art market remains in a robust state despite the current economic slow down.