How Much Is The Artist's Garden at Giverny Worth?

Value conclusion: Based on direct comparables and current Monet benchmarks, the hypothetical fair market value for Claude Monet’s The Artist’s Garden at Giverny (1900; 81.6 × 92.6 cm; Musée d’Orsay) is $40–60 million. The work is a mature-period, highly recognizable Giverny garden subject with top-tier institutional stature. While it is effectively inalienable as part of France’s national collection, this range reflects where it would likely transact if it were legally deaccessioned and offered under normal market conditions [1][2].

How the estimate was derived: The closest subject-and-format comparator is Monet’s Les Arceaux de roses, Giverny, a near-identical garden-path motif that sold for $23.3 million at Sotheby’s New York (May 2022), with an earlier iteration at $19.4 million in 2017. Adjusted for the 2025–2026 market, this anchors the lower end for garden-path images of this scale in the mid‑$20 millions [3]. Against this, mature, canonical series command substantial premiums: Poplars achieved $42.96 million at Christie’s New York (May 2025) [5]; London’s Waterloo Bridge reached $48.45 million (May 2021) [7]; and large, late Water Lilies realized $65.5 million at Sotheby’s (Nov 2024) [4]. Monet’s all‑time auction record—Haystacks at $110.7 million (2019)—defines the ceiling for his most coveted series [6].

Positioning this work: The Artist’s Garden at Giverny is an A‑level museum picture with a widely reproduced subject that bridges directly to Monet’s lily‑pond cycle. However, market hierarchy places garden views (non‑lily) below the artist’s most trophy series (Water Lilies, Haystacks, London, Rouen). Given this hierarchy, and the specific strength of the 1900 date, scale, and image quality, a premium over the $20–30 million garden comps is warranted, while still below the consistent $45–75+ million zone for top serial masterpieces. This yields a well‑supported $40–60 million range.

Other factors: The painting’s provenance (Durand‑Ruel; later a 1983 dation en paiement to the French State) and its residence at the Musée d’Orsay confer exceptional “trophy” appeal likely to catalyze global bidding if it ever came to market [1]. Asian and U.S. participation has underpinned recent Monet results at the top end [4][5]. A museum‑level insurance value would reasonably sit above FMV due to replacement difficulty; we assess ~$70 million as an appropriate schedule figure. As always, condition can shift outcomes meaningfully at this price point; a top‑tier, unrestored surface would bias the result toward the upper half of the range.

Important note on marketability: Works in France’s national museum collections are in the public domain and inalienable absent specific legislation; this valuation is therefore a market‑based thought experiment, not a signal of availability [2].