San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk Auction History

Claude Monet painted this view of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice during his 1908 campaign and completed it by 1912; it featured in the May–June 1912 Claude Monet: Venise exhibition at Galerie Bernheim‑Jeune, Paris [1][4].

Later in 1912, Gwendoline Davies purchased the canvas directly from that exhibition for £1,000 [1][2][3]. On 10 April 1952 it entered the collection of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales by bequest (accession NMW A 2485) [1]. No public auction has been traced for this work [1].

The painting’s only known transaction occurred in late 1912 when Welsh collector Gwendoline Davies bought it for £1,000 from Monet’s Claude Monet: Venise exhibition at Galerie Bernheim‑Jeune in Paris [1][2]. That show was the first major unveiling of Monet’s Venetian campaign and a commercial success; Bernheim‑Jeune (often working in concert with Durand‑Ruel) helped place the canvases with leading collectors and dealers [4][5]. Monet’s account books record substantial receipts associated with the 1912 Venice pictures, underscoring robust primary‑market demand at the moment of the Davies purchase [10].

Because Davies later bequeathed the work to Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales in 1952, there is no public auction history for this specific canvas and it is not available on the market [1]. The sisters’ patronage was deep: evidence shows they acquired two views of San Giorgio Maggiore in 1912, signaling strong early British enthusiasm for the series [6].

While this example is museum‑held, comparable Venice views by Monet have achieved significant auction prices, framing the series’ market standing. Le Palais Ducal realized £27.5m / $36.2m at Sotheby’s London in 2019 [8], and Le Grand Canal et Santa Maria della Salute set the Venice‑series benchmark at $56.6m at Sotheby’s New York in 2022 [7]. In Monet’s broader market, Meules achieved $110.7m in 2019, the artist’s auction record [9]. Together these results contextualize enduring demand for Monet and the 1908 Venice cycle, even as this particular painting remains securely in a public collection.