Monet’s “Nympheas en fleur”, part of the impressionist’s famed water-lily series inspired by his Giverny home, fetched US$84.69 million (RM338 million) at the evening sale in New York, the auction house said.
The previous record for the Frenchman had been US$81.4 million (RM324.9 million), set by Christie’s in 2016 for “Meule” from Monet’s famous grainstack series.
Tuesday’s sale also set a new auction record for Henri Matisse, with his 1923 “Odalisque couchée aux magnolias” selling for US$80.75 million (RM322.3 million), Christie’s said. The previous Matisse record was US$49 million (RM195.6 million).
But the highest-selling lot of the night was Picasso’s 1905 masterpiece “Fillette a la corbeille fleurie” (“Young Girl With a Flower Basket”) which sold for US$115 million (RM459 million), well over its pre-sale value of US$100 million (RM399 million).
Its original purchase by Gertrude and Leon Stein, together with two other Rose Period paintings, helped jumpstart Pablo Picasso’s career. The Rockefellers purchased the canvas in December 1968.
Christie’s is selling off 1,600 items from the glittering collection of Rockefeller, the billionaire who died last year aged 101, and his wife Peggy.
The three-day sale is expected to rake in US$600 million (RM2.39 billion) and smash the previous record for a collection set by that of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge, which fetched US$484 million (RM1.932 billion) in 2009.
It sees Christie’s for the first time spread its flagship spring sales over two weeks, twice the traditional length.
The May 2018 season is expected to break new records, six months after Christie’s sold a Leonardo da Vinci for US$450.3 million (RM1.797 billion), more than doubling the world record for any work of art bought at auction.
Pablo Picasso’s “The Women of Algiers (Version O)” previously sold for US$179.4 million (RM716 million) at Christie’s in New York in May 2015.