Monet haystack painting at Sotheby’s sells for record-breaking amount

A Claude Monet painting of haystacks sold for a record-breaking $110.7 million at a New York auction on Tuesday.

The impressionist artist’s “Meules” sold at Sotheby’s sale of Impressionist & Modern Art – breaking the world auction record for Monet. The sale also marked the first Impressionist artwork to surpass the $100 million mark.

The previous owners of the painting had bought the painting in 1986 for $2.53 million.

The 1890 painting is one of only four works from Monet's acclaimed "Haystacks" series to come to auction this century, and one of only eight examples remaining in private hands. The 17 others reside at museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.

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The purchasers of the artwork – who competed in an eight-minute auction against five other bidders – have not yet been identified by the auction house.

The Associated Press contributed to this report