Monet’s letter collection goes for $1.7 million

A collection of about 1,000 letters to French Impressionist painter Claude Monet from his friends and admirers fetched $1.7 million at an auction Wednesday, Artcurial auction house said.

The letters, which date from 1874 until the artist’s death in 1926, offer an intimate glimpse into a close circle of artists: Many are by Monet’s fellow Impressionist painters, including Edouard Manet, Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley and Mary Cassatt.

Monet carefully preserved the letters, and they became a family treasure, passed down through generations. The painter’s great-grandson Michel Cornebois -- Monet’s sole direct descendant -- turned them over to the auction house.