Monet Water Lilies sale via Chinese social media app goes viral; gallery silent on details
Gallery owner won’t reveal details of claimed multimillion-yuan sale of work by French painter on Xiaohongshu to answer the doubters
Chinese internet users are known for their trigger-happy ways when shopping for luxury products online, but news that someone may have bought an original Claude Monet painting on Xiaohongshu, China’s version of Instagram, has prompted fierce discussion online this week.
The buzz started on December 9 when an account named “Gallery Boss’s Backyard Garden” posted on Xiaohongshu with the tongue-in-cheek message: “Looks like no one on Xiaohongshu has ever sold a Monet Water Lilies before.”
The post included a close-up photo of the painting, supposedly a 1908 Nymphéas measuring 100cm X 100cm (39 inches x 39 inches) – one of hundreds the French Impressionist master painted of water lilies – and the claim the work came with records of seven previous owners and its inclusion in five exhibitions.
Gao Zhen-yu, the man behind the account, owns Gao’s Gallery in Avignon, southern France, which mainly deals in the secondary market for art by Western and Chinese modern masters. According to its website, the gallery also has branches in Chinese cities such as Beijing, Hangzhou, Taiyuan and Yinchuan.
The rare listing quickly went viral, amassing over 20,000 comments as users flooded the post with lighthearted jokes and witty remarks, treating the offer as a humorous stunt.
