How Much Is Woman with a Parasol Worth?

Painted in 1875 and exhibited at the 2nd Impressionist Exhibition (1876), Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son is a definitive early Impressionist figure‑in‑landscape by Monet. Depicting Camille and Jean Monet in a windswept field, the canvas encapsulates plein‑air immediacy, high‑key color, and broken brushwork that came to define the movement. The picture is extensively reproduced and taught, making it one of the most recognizable images of 19th‑century art. This status drives a substantial ‘iconicity premium’ over even strong serial landscapes. Within Monet’s oeuvre—dominated at the high end by late Water Lilies and London views—this work stands apart as the pre‑Giverny emblem, a museum cornerstone with broad cross‑collector appeal [1].

The painting’s provenance is exemplary: sold by Monet in 1876 to the pivotal early collector Dr. Georges de Bellio, later owned by Georges Menier, acquired at the Menier sale (Palais Galliera, 1965) for Paul Mellon, and gifted in 1983 to the National Gallery of Art, Washington. This chain of distinguished ownership—spanning an early champion of Impressionism and a 20th‑century American patron—confers exceptional market confidence. The work’s extensive exhibition and publication record further consolidates its scholarly authority and visibility. Such provenance reduces transactional friction, aids due diligence, and typically commands stronger bidding, particularly at the trophy tier where brand‑name collections and museum‑grade histories are prized by global buyers [1].

Monet’s early, monumental figure‑in‑landscape canvases of this fame are extraordinarily scarce outside institutions. Most close analogues reside in museums; the supply of works with similar subject, date, and recognition is effectively nil. That rarity compounds the painting’s value beyond the already deep demand for Monet generally. In a market where top Monet sales in recent years have concentrated around late serial works (Nymphéas, Parliament, Poplars), a fresh‑to‑market early icon would be a singular event. Scarcity at the $100m+ level—where overall auction volume has contracted—can intensify competition when a true masterpiece emerges, especially with guarantees and global outreach, supporting a premium above standard comparables [3][4][5][6].

Recent pricing establishes a sturdy floor for top Monets: $74.01m for Le bassin aux nymphéas (2023) and $65.5m for a major Nymphéas (2024), while the all‑time Monet auction record remains $110.7m for Meules (2019). A superior Poplars brought $42.96m in 2025, confirming continued depth for A‑quality series paintings. Against this backdrop, Woman with a Parasol carries additional brand recognition and cross‑category appeal, justifying a nine‑figure expectation and a realistic pathway to testing or surpassing the record if conditions align (strong guarantees, optimal sale window, and robust international bidding). The proposed $120–180m range reflects these comparables plus an ‘iconicity premium’ appropriate to this painting’s status [2][3][4][5].