Monet's 'Iris' Sold for $56 Million

Sotheby’s auction house announced that Claude Monet’s painting “Iris” sold for 50 million euros ($56.05 million), making it the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction in France. Six bidders competed fiercely for 45 minutes for the painting, which Monet completed near the end of his life, before two of them continued to battle for another 20 minutes. The painting “Iris” ultimately went to an Asian collector who bid by telephone. The work was one of several pieces from the Schlumberger collection offered for sale at the auction, and it was expected to fetch between 22 million and 30 million euros. The previous record holder for French auctions was Amedeo Modigliani’s “Head of a Woman (Caryatid),” which sold for 43.2 million euros in 2010.