Letters to Monet, from Arists and Fans, Go on Sale

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A photo of Claude Monet included in the letters is expected to sell for around 1,250 euros, or about $1,660.

Artcurial

A photo of Claude Monet included in the letters is expected to sell for around 1,250 euros, or about $1,660.

Artcurial

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John Singer Sargent included a sketch of a Monet painting he had recently bought in one of his 17 letters to the artist. Click for a view of the sketch in its letter.

Artcurial

John Singer Sargent included a sketch of a Monet painting he had recently bought in one of his 17 letters to the artist. Click for a view of the sketch in its letter.

Artcurial

More than 1,000 letters written to Claude Monet are up for auction in Paris. The senders include fellow artists like Renoir, Manet, Cezanne, Degas, along with admirers who reached out to "cher Monet."

Monet saved the letters himself; they have since become a family treasure. Often casual and openly admiring — and sometimes enhanced by a hasty sketch — the letters offer an intimate look into a close circle of artists.

The letters from Renoir are especially rich, revealing the close bond between the two artists, who met in their 20s and were friends for a lifetime. Monet died in 1926.

The Artcurial auction house says it expects the letters, many of them previously unpublished, to sell for more than $600,000. The correspondence may allow art scholars to fill in more details of the lives of the impressionists.

The Associated Press contributed to this text.