Claude Monet Painting Fetches Over $80 Million

It may be 2008, but a good piece of Impressionistic art can still cost a pretty penny.

The Associated Press reports that a painting by French Impressionist artist Claude Monet, called the "Water Lilly Pond," was purchased at Christie's auction house for an unheard of amount, to the tune of over $80 million. The painting which was sold as part of an Impressionist and Modern art sale, was completed and debuted by the artist in 1919 as part of a collective series of paintings of the same related theme.

Claude Monet is considered one of the founding contributors of the French Impressionist art movement.