A Monet resurfaces in Paris, and the auction world looks to New York

For a week in late October, Paris was the busiest art market in the world. According to the analysts at Artprice, Christie's and Sotheby's together sold $306.9 million in the city between 19 and 25 October. That's close to a third of what Artprice estimates France's entire fine-art auction market made in 2025.

The Iris

The high point came on 22 October at Sotheby's. Claude Monet's **Iris (1924–1925) sold for the equivalent of about $56.1 million**. That makes it the most expensive work ever sold at auction in France. Six bidders competed for 45 minutes before an Asian private collector won by telephone.

The painting's story makes the price feel almost secondary. Iris had been out of view for decades. Art historians knew it mainly from a black-and-white photograph, so its sale was also the first time many people saw its colour. The timing adds poetry: 2026 marks the centenary of Monet's death. The Musée de l'Orangerie is showing Monet: Painting Time until 25 January 2027.

A record week

Sotheby's set an all-time record for a series of sales in Paris, and its Schlumberger collection sale reached $83.7 million. Christie's reported $153 million, its best-ever Paris result for 20th- and 21st-century art, including $46.8 million from the Durand-Ruel collection. Both collection sales were "white glove" results, with every lot sold. More than 1,000 bidders from 59 countries took part.

Beyond the two giants, Artcurial made $23.5 million across three sales, one dedicated to contemporary ceramics. Phillips held its first Paris auction. Contemporary French art was more muted, Artprice notes.

Next stop: New York

The November sales in New York are already being billed as a test. Sotheby's will offer works from the Blaquier-Arrieta collection on 18 November. The collection is valued at close to $450 million and has been out of public view for decades. Two paintings carry most of that value. Van Gogh's Chestnut Trees in Blossom (1890) is estimated at around $180 million, and Cézanne's Harlequin (1888–1890) at around $120 million. Either could join the very short list of works sold for more than $100 million.

Christie's, meanwhile, is offering Kandinsky's Betonte Ecken (1922–1923) at $60–80 million. That could nearly double the artist's auction record.

These are estimates, not results. We'll report back after the sales.

What it tells us

Two things stand out. Provenance and rediscovery still move the market: a painting that only existed in black and white for most people is about as romantic as it gets. And the colours of Impressionism still have a hold on us. Violet irises, soft purples and garden greens are a palette that never quite dates, on a museum wall or in a sunny hallway.