EST:£5.9M SOLD:£11.7M

THIS panorama of the idyllic banks of the River Seine, called La Seine à Lavacourt, was painted by Claude Monet from his riverside garden in the summer of 1879.

He set up an easel at his garden gate in Vétheuil, a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris.

Monet had moved to the rural enclave the previous year aged 37 — and this piece is thought to reveal his contentment in his new, idyllic environment.

Shortly after finishing it, Monet’s wife, Camille, died. He escaped his grief by painting more river views. This canvas was the first Monet purchased by the Rockefellers.