Monet Art ‘Missing’ Since The Holocaust Resurfaces For Auction, Could Fetch $25M

La Mare, Effet De Neige, a “long-lost” Claude Monet painting that first appeared at The Fourth Impressionist Exhibition in 1879, is finally coming to auction after spending 70 long years hidden away in a private collection.

Depicting a snow-capped landscape of ethereal blue and white hues, the piece is a stunning example of Monet’s experimentation with the Impressionist movement.

“Claude Monet’s La Mare, Effet De Neige is undeniably one of the masterpieces of the Impressionist movement. The spontaneity and the freedom of execution seen in the rendering of light and atmosphere is a veritable tour de force,” said Anika Guntrum, International Director of 20th & 21st Century Art at Christie’s.

“The blanket of white snow, melting along the edge of the pond is a genius pretext for the artist to reveal, by touches of silvery blue and rose tones, a hint of springtime to come,” she added.

In order to put the work on sale, Christie’s facilitated an agreement between the painting’s current owners and the heirs of Richard Semmel, the original owner who had the painting taken away from him in the 1930s by the Nazi regime in Germany, in no small part due to his Jewish heritage.

The auction house said its Restitution Department had “discovered important new information” with regards to the provenance of the work, and through “diligent research and open dialogue” was able to acknowledge the work’s “complicated history,” and adhere to the principles of the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets.

While the terms of the settlement are not disclosed, the price tag on the work estimates it will fetch between US$18 million to US$25 million when it goes under the hammer at the 20th Century Evening Sale on May 12, 2022.

[via Robb Report and Christie’s, cover image via Christie’s]