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Updated Wednesday, June 20, 2007 0:00 am TWN, LONDON, AP

Monet painting fetches 18 mil. pounds

A view of the River Thames painted by Claude Monet sold for almost 18 million pounds (US$36 million; euro27 million) at auction Monday, kicking off a week of big-budget sales on the London art market.

“Waterloo Bridge, Temps Couvert” (“Waterloo Bridge, Overcast Weather”) was bought by an anonymous American bidder for 17,940,000 pounds (US$35.6 million; euro26.5 million) including buyer’s premium during a sale at Christie’s auction house.

The price — more than double the work’s pre-sale estimate — is the second-highest ever for a Monet at auction. The record of almost 20 million pounds was set at Sotheby’s in 1998.

“Waterloo Bridge, Temps Couvert” is one of a series of views of the bridge and river that Monet painted from his room at the Savoy Hotel near the start of the 20th century.

Another Monet, the water-lily painting “Les Arceaux de Roses, Givenchy,” sold for 8,980,000 pounds (US$17.8 million; euro13.3 million) Monday, just below its pre-sale estimate.

Bobby Read, an expert at art insurer Hiscox, said the sale showed the art market is “going from strength to strength.”

“Paintings like the Monets sold at Christie’s are few and far between,” he said.

Monday’s sale of impressionist and modern art begins a week of high-profile auctions by Christie’s and its rival, Sotheby’s that experts say could generate almost 500 million pounds (US$1 billion; euro740 million).

Christie’s said Monday’s sale total was 121 million pounds (US$240 million; euro178 million), a record for an auction in Europe.

Another Monet painting, “Nympheas,” is for sale at Sotheby’s on Tuesday with an estimated price of 10 to 15 million pounds (US$20 million to US$30 million; euro15 million to euro22 million).

On Wednesday, Christie’s holds a contemporary art sale that includes Lucian Freud’s portrait of Bruce Bernard. Billed as the most important Freud work ever to appear at auction, it is expected to break the current record for the artist at auction of 4.2 million pounds (US$8.3 million; euro6.2 million).

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	A view of the River Thames painted by Claude Monet sold for almost 18 million pounds (US$36 million; euro27 million) at auction Monday, kicking off a week of big-budget sales on the London art ... Enlarge Photo


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