Claude Monet's Le Bassin aux Nympheas, a work from his celebrated water lily series, is expected to make $25m-35m at Christie's.
It's one of a sequence of 14 paintings he executed between 1918 and 1919, as the first world war came to an end.
 Monet painted the work in 1919, as the first world war raged |
At one stage the German lines were just 37km from Monet's home in Giverny.
He wrote to his dealer, Georges Bernheim-Jeune: "I do not have long to live, and I must dedicate all my time to painting.
"I do not want to believe that I would ever be obliged to leave Giverny; I would rather die here in the middle of what I have done."
By the autumn of 1918 the Germans had been pushed back, to Monet's great relief.
This painting was sold to Bernheim-Jeune in 1919 and then on to a major collector of impressionist art. This is the first time it has been offered for sale in 20 years.
Monet began painting his water lily pond in 1904, producing around 200 works before his death in 1926. One sold for a Monet record £40.9m ($80.4m) in 2008.
We have a rare letter signed by Monet for sale.
The auction will also feature Modigliani's Jeune femme à la rose (Margherita), which is expected to reach $12m-14m.
Last year Modigliani's Reclining Nude became the second most valuable painting ever sold at auction. It made $170m in a sale at Christie's.
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