PARIS: Iris, a monumental painting by Impressionist Claude Monet, sold for 50 million euros ($56 million) including buyer fees in Paris on Thursday, becoming the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction in France.

The 1.60 metre high and 1.80 metre wide work had never left the billionaire Schlumberger family’s mansion in Paris and was known only through a black-and-white photograph. It was acquired by Jeanne Schlumberger (1889-1983), according to Thomas Bompard, co-head of the Modern and Contemporary Art Department at Sotheby’s France.

Iris had been estimated at between 22 and 30 million euros, “the highest valuation ever given to a painting offered at auction in France,” Sotheby’s noted when presenting the sale.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2026