San Giorgio Maggiore by Twilight Auction History

Claude Monet painted this canvas in 1908 during his Venice campaign, later completing it in Giverny [4]. It was exhibited as Crépuscule (65 × 92 cm) in Claude Monet: Venise at Galerie Bernheim‑Jeune, Paris, 28 May–8 June 1912 [3].

In November 1912, Gwendoline Davies acquired the work directly from the exhibition for £1,000 [1][2]. On 10 April 1952 she bequeathed it to Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales (National Museum Cardiff), where it is accessioned as NMW A 2485 and listed on view in Gallery 16 [1].

This painting has no public auction history: it was bought directly from Monet’s 1912 Bernheim‑Jeune Venice exhibition by Gwendoline Davies and entered the National Museum Cardiff by bequest in 1952 [1][2][3]. While that means there is no hammer-price history for this exact canvas, its importance within Monet’s celebrated Venice series gives it clear market resonance. Scholarship notes that Monet produced a small group of six views of San Giorgio Maggiore; two are in museums (Indianapolis and Cardiff), limiting supply of top examples from this motif [4].

Market demand for Monet’s Venetian subjects is well established. Le Grand Canal et Santa Maria della Salute (1908) realized $56.6 million at Sotheby’s New York in 2022, a record for a Venice subject at the time [5]. Le Palais Ducal (1908) brought £27.5 million at Sotheby’s London in 2019, and Le Grand Canal achieved £23.7 million in 2015 [6][7]. Beyond Venice, the broader Monet market has remained robust: Meules (1890) set the artist’s auction record at $110.7 million in 2019; major water-lily works achieved $74.0 million in 2023 and $65.5 million in 2024 [8][9][10].

Taken together, the Cardiff San Giorgio Maggiore by Twilight combines blue-chip subject matter, a pristine early provenance (direct from Monet’s 1912 show), and long institutional stewardship—factors prized by top-tier collectors. Though not for sale, its inclusion among the few museum-held San Giorgio canvases, alongside the performance of comparable Venice works, underscores its marquee stature within Monet’s market narrative [1][4][5][6][7].