Claude Monet's sun-dappled riverscape Moulin de Limetz (1888) will be sold in May during Christie’s 20th century evening sale in New York, where it is expected to fetch between $18m and $25m. Moulin de Limetz is partially owned by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, while the descendents of the woman who donated the painting retain a share.
Moulin de Limetz features a view of a grain mill on the River Epte in France, roughly a mile away from the artist’s longtime home in Giverny. The painting was first acquired from Monet by famed Impressionist art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel.
Joseph S. and Ethel B. Atha, celebrated collectors in Kansas City, acquired Moulin de Limetz sometime after 1936. The Atha family traces its roots in Kansas City to the early 1900s, when Frank Perry Atha expanded operations of the Folger Coffee Company to the American Midwest from California. When Ethel died in 1986, Moulin de Limetz was partially bequeathed to the Nelson-Atkins in a unique deal that allowed the museum and family to share the painting. The work has hung at the museum since 2008. After the death of Ethel’s daughter, Evelyn Atha Chase, in September 2023, her family decided to sell its one-third share in the painting, and worked with the museum to move forward with an auction. Proceeds from the museum’s share of the painting will go toward creating an endowment in Joseshp S. and Ethel B. Atha’s names.
"We are so grateful to the Atha family for their generosity, which has made it possible for us to share this wonderful Monet with our community for many years,” Julián Zugazagoitia, the director and chief executive of the Nelson-Atkins, said in a statement. “While we did pursue the possibility of acquiring the family’s remaining share, this was ultimately not possible. However, while we will miss this beautiful work, this sale is also an opportunity for the museum to create the Joseph S. and Ethel B. Atha Art Acquisition Endowment with the auction proceeds that will allow us to acquire art to honour the family in perpetuity and continue adding to and refining our exceptional collection.”
There are two versions of Moulin de Limetz completed by Monet in 1888. The other painting was sold at Sotheby’s New York in November 2023 for $25.6m, with fees. That version was acquired by the Hasso Plattner Foundation and early this year, the painting joined the collection of Museum Barberini in Potsdam, Germany, on permanent loan.
The Nelson-Atkins has four other paintings by Monet in its collection. This month marks the 150th anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris.