rare masterpieces by claude monet wassily kandinsky and constantin brancusi led the november 7 evening sale of impressionist modern art at christies new york realizing a grand total of 204800000 129024000159744000 a diverse audience of clients from around the world participated in the sale which achieved sellthrough rates of 70 by lot and 80 by value of the 69 works offered 5 lots sold for over 10 million 10 for over 5 million and 31 for over 1 million we were all reminded of the enduring power and appeal of great works of art in the context of profound world events such as the presidential election in the united states a transition of leadership in china the tumult of the stock markets globally and even the shock of the aftermath of hurricane sandy the art market united in enthusiasm for impressionist modern masterworks by artists as varied as claude monet wassily kandinsky and constantin brancusi we are honored and grateful to have stewarded these gems on behalf of private sellers and various nonprofit institutions alike noted brooke lampley head of impressionist modern art at christies new york in an email statement the top price for the evening was achieved by claude monets impressionist masterpiece nympheas the water lilies a view of the lily pond at giverny from the iconic series that was the crowning achievement of the artists career the painting dates from 1905 the year monet began his most intensive work on a dazzling array of paintings of the lily pond at the heart of his garden working feverishly he would complete more than 60 increasingly abstract views of the pond between 1905 and 1908 or about one every three weeks the best works of the series including the present nympheas were selected for his 1909 exhibition at galerie durandruel in paris which proved to be an unprecedented commercial and critical success for monet the work sold for 43762500 27570375 34134750 to an american private bidder on the telephone achieving the second highest price for the artist at auction the monet along with two impressionist landscapes by camille pissarro and alfred sisley were offered at the auction by hackley school a notforprofit independent school in tarrytown ny the paintings were a bequest to the school from ethel strong allen a gift in keeping with the allen familys long tradition of charitable support three generations of the allen family have attended the school and mrs allens late husband served as a trustee and honorary trustee of hackley for nearly 45 years the sale of the three paintings raised a combined total of 50871500 making it one of the largest donations ever made to an independent school in new york state proceeds from their sale will benefit hackleys longterm development goals