Claude Monet's Nympheas (1906) has sold for £31.7m ($54m) at Sotheby's London.

The painting crossed the block at the June 23 Impressionist and Modern Art auction.

The French art dealer and champion of impressionism Paul Durand-Ruel, a key player in the development of Monet's career, was the former owner of the work.

Monet's Nympheas series is his most iconic

He arranged a seminal exhibition of the artist's work at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in 1909, in which the present piece featured.

Monet began painting the water lilies series in 1899, shortly after completing a vast landscaping project that turned a plot of land adjacent to his home in Giverny into a water meadow.

In all he produced around 250 works in the series, which went on to become his most celebrated - his auction record stands for the seminal Le Bassin Aux Nympheas, which made £40.9m ($80.5m) at Christie's London in 2008.

This particular piece sold for $20.9m in 2000, equating to an increase of 7.0% pa over the past 14 years.

More recently, another water lily painting sold for $27m at Christie's auction of the Clark collection in New York.

We have this incredible hand written letter signed by Monet in 1920.

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