The Japanese Footbridge Auction History

Provenance: Purchased from Monet by Galerie Durand‑Ruel, Paris, in January 1900; sold by Durand‑Ruel to the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, in 1920; deaccessioned by the Carnegie Institute and sold privately to Sam Salz, New York, in 1953; subsequently sold to Henry T. Mudd, Los Angeles; by inheritance to Victoria Nebeker Coberly; in 1992 given (with Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg) to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC [1][2].

This 1899 canvas belongs to Monet’s celebrated Japanese bridge series, painted from a single vantage point over his water garden. Its ownership history is fully documented from the artist’s studio to leading dealers and institutions: Durand‑Ruel acquired it in 1900; the Carnegie Institute purchased it in 1920; it was deaccessioned in 1953 in a private sale to New York dealer Sam Salz; it later entered the Mudd collection and, ultimately, the National Gallery of Art as a 1992 gift [1][2]. No public auction has been recorded for this specific work, and sale prices for its private transfers have not been published [1].

While this picture has no auction record, the motif’s market strength is well established. A related Japanese Bridge painting achieved $33 million at Sotheby’s London in 1998, a landmark price at the time (a different canvas) [3]. Monet’s wider market has since reached much higher peaks, including the $110.7 million record for Meules in 2019 [4]. Late Giverny masterworks continue to anchor the top tier of Impressionist demand: recent benchmarks include Le bassin aux nymphéas at $74.01 million in 2023 and another Water-Lilies scene at $65.5 million in 2024 (both different works) [5][6].

Given this context, The Japanese Footbridge aligns with a blue-chip subset of Monet’s oeuvre that remains coveted. However, as a museum-held painting with an unbroken, well-documented provenance and no public auction history, it is effectively off-market. Its significance lies not only in the 1899 bridge series’ art-historical status but also in the caliber of its ownership and exhibition history, culminating in its placement at the National Gallery of Art—factors that reinforce institutional importance rather than setting a tradable price benchmark [1][2].