
Large and Impressive Monet Oil
This impressive oil is the second of a pair of Monet oils that had been on loan to the Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art for many years. It looks like, and almost certainly is, one of Monet’s many great paintings of the lily pond at Giverny that was the subject of his last thirty years of painting. (see the Wall Street Journal article of July 29, 2025). Attached verso are a number of gallery and museum certificates suggesting its authenticity. One is a Bernheim Jeune certificate identifying it as a Monet with an inventory number so low that it suggests Bernheim Jeune might have handled the painting’s original sale. The equally impressive antique frame appears to be the original frame. The painting reappeared a century or so later in Venezuela at the Caracas Museum de Arte Contemporaneo. There is also a pre-war certificate verso that suggests it passed through Vienna prior to reaching Caracas.
Because it is unknown when the various certificates were installed, the painting is considered to have an uncertain provenance and can only be sold as attributed to Monet. Hence the low price. It may be viewed where it now prominently hangs in a Scottsdale, Arizona palatial estate. (See http://Phgmag.com/mediterranean-masterpiece.) “smartCard-inline”) It is being sold to benefit the trust of an autistic child. If the buyer desires, an investor is available to take a minority position with the principal buyer having full possession if the buyer will agree to have it forensically tested and sold when Sotheby’s begins accepting forensics tests as proof of authenticity. Inquire