EST:£22M SOLD:£25M

MONET’S La Gare SaintLazare, 1877, is a series of 12 paintings depicting Paris-Saint-Lazare station.

It was to be his last and most ambitious attempt to tackle the contradictions of modern life, before he turned to pure landscape.

A unifying feature in all 12 is the thick clouds of steam and smoke — showing the force of industrialisation.

The Rockefellers bought Extérieur de la gare SaintLazare, effet de soleil in 1958. It was once in the collection of Leigh Block, who David knew from his days as a trustee of the University of Chicago.