Monet painting fetches $74 mln at auction in New York

NEW YORK

A painting of water lilies by French impressionist Claude Monet has sold for $74 million, as part of a lively fall art auction season.

"Le bassin aux nympheas" topped the projected sale price of $65 million when it went under the hammer at Christie's auction house in New York.

Other notable sales included 20th century expressionist painter Richard Diebenkorn's "Recollections of a Visit to Leningrad" which sold for $46 million, while fellow American Joan Mitchell's "Untitled" went for $29 million.

Three paintings by Paul Cezanne were sold, including "Fruits et pot de gingembre" for nearly $39 million.

Last week, Pablo Picasso's "Woman with a Watch," fetched $139.3 million, the second-highest price ever achieved for the artist.

"Femme a la montre," the 1932 painting depicting one of the Spanish artist's companions and muses, French painter Marie-Therese Walter, had been valued at over $120 million before going on the block at Sotheby's.

The fall auction season, which started on Nov. 7 and ends on Nov. 15, has so far seen $748 million in sales at Christie's and more than $400 million at Sotheby's.