CHRISTIE'S TO SELL MONET WATER-LILY PAINTING

CHRISTIE'S, LONDON, IS OFFERING A MONET WATER-LILY PAINTING WORTH AN ESTIMATED £30-40 MILLION THIS MONTH IN WHAT IT EXPECTS TO BE THE BIGGEST SALE IT HAS EVER MOUNTED AT ITS LONDON GALLERIES. WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ART MARKET BOOMING AGAIN AFTER A SLUMP WHEN FINANCIAL MARKETS CRASHED, THE CHRISTIE'S SALE ALSO INCLUDES A BLUE PERIOD PORTRAIT BY PABLO PICASSO, OFFERED BY THE ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER FOUNDATION FOUNDED BY THE COMPOSER, AND CARRYING A PRICE TAG ABOUT THE SAME AS THE 1906 MONET. THE MONET, WHICH WAS UNVEILED THURSDAY, AND THE PICASSO, PLUS 61 OTHER WORKS ON OFFER, HAVE A COMBINED ESTIMATED PRE-AUCTION VALUE OF £164-250 MILLION. THIS WOULD BE IN EXCESS OF THE LONDON RECORD OF £147 MILLION SET AT RIVAL SOTHEBY'S IN FEBRUARY. THAT AMOUNT WAS BOOSTED BY A WORLD AUCTION RECORD FOR A WORK OF ART WHEN AN ALBERTO GIACOMETTI STATUE WENT UNDER THE HAMMER FOR $104.3 MILLION. THREE MONTHS LATER, CHRISTIE'S TOPPED THAT HIGH WITH A PICASSO WHICH FETCHED $106.5 MILLION IN NEW YORK. THE TOP EUROPEAN AUCTION TOTAL STANDS AT £183 MILLION FOR THE HISTORIC IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART SECTION OF THE PRIVATE YVES SAINT LAURENT COLLECTION. WITH RECORDS TUMBLING, IT COMES AS NO SURPRISE THAT OWNERS OF THE FINEST ART ARE WILLING TO OFFER IT UP FOR SALE. ONGOING UNCERTAINTY OVER THE STATE OF THE BROADER GLOBAL ECONOMY HAS FAILED TO DAMPEN THE MOOD IN SALES ROOMS, WITH ONLY A HANDFUL OF EXTREME WEALTHY INDIVIDUALS OR MUSEUMS NEEDED TO DRIVE VALUES UP. 'NYMPHEAS', THE WORK BY MONET TO BE OFFERED, WAS SHOWN AT THE FAMOUS 1909 EXHIBITION IN PARIS WHERE THE ARTIST'S STUDIES OF THE EFFECTS OF LIGHT IN HIS GARDEN IN GIVERNY WON CRITICAL ACCLAIM. ALSO TO BE SOLD AT THE IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART EVENING ARE IMPORTANT WORKS BY GUSTAV KLIMT AND VINCENT VAN GOGH.