Two unseen Monet paintings emerge from private collections for Paris auction

Tuesday 07 April 2026 - 13:40

By: Dakir Madiha

Two unseen Monet paintings emerge from private collections for Paris auction

Two Claude Monet landscapes that have remained in private collections for over a century are set to go under the hammer at Sotheby's Modern and Contemporary Art evening sale in Paris on April 16. The works, "Les Îles de Port-Villez" and "Vétheuil, Effet du Matin," carry a combined estimate of 9 to 13 million euros, making them the most valuable Monet paintings offered at auction in France since 2001, according to Sotheby's.

"Les Îles de Port-Villez," painted in 1883 shortly after Monet settled in Giverny, depicts the wooded islands scattered across the Seine opposite his new home. Estimated at 3 to 5 million euros, the canvas was last exhibited at Paul Durand-Ruel's gallery on Fifth Avenue in the early twentieth century and had previously been known only through a black-and-white photograph from the 1950s. Durand-Ruel, one of Monet's earliest champions, had lent the painter 20,000 francs toward the purchase of his Giverny home in 1890.

The second work, "Vétheuil, Effet du Matin," dates to 1901 and carries the higher estimate, between 6 and 8 million euros. The painting offers a pointillist rendering of the village of Vétheuil as seen from the opposite bank of the Seine, and belongs to a series of 15 canvases Monet produced during the summer of 1901 from a rented house in Lavacourt.

Together, the two works illuminate distinct phases of Monet's development. In 1883, he was working from a custom-fitted studio boat, rendering the islands with energetic, generous brushstrokes. Thomas Bompard, co-head of modern and contemporary art at Sotheby's Paris, told Artnet News that Monet had become "the true master of his own aesthetic," selecting precisely which elements of the landscape he wished to capture. By 1901, Monet was celebrated and financially secure, having exchanged his studio boat for a chauffeured Panhard & Levassor automobile. The later canvas reflects a more expansive compositional approach, balancing atmospheric sensation with refined detail.

Word of the first painting's availability spread through French collector networks in January, prompting a second long-held Monet to surface for sale as well, according to Artnet News. Recent market activity signals strong demand for the artist's work: a Vétheuil canvas sold at Christie's New York in 2025 for 3.2 million dollars, well above its low estimate of 1.8 million dollars. Bompard described the opportunity as exceedingly rare. "For a collector, to be able to bid on a major Monet in perfect condition that has not been seen for a century," he said, "that almost never happens anymore."