Financier George Allen Weiss is seeking to sell Claude Monet’s Nymphéas (1914–17) to help pay down debt, according to recent court filings.
The painting, measuring 53 ⅛ by 57 ½ inches, is slated to be sold for $36.5 million to an unnamed buyer represented by attorney Jennifer Morris, pending approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Weiss filed for bankruptcy in June, several months after a federal judge ruled that he was liable for more than $100 million in debt tied to his hedge fund, Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers, which owes that sum to Jefferies Strategic Investments. Founded in 1978, the fund was once valued at $2.3 billion, and Weiss himself has been described as a pioneer of the industry, according to Bloomberg. The fund filed for bankruptcy in 2024. In his own petition, Weiss also listed a $180 million claim from the Internal Revenue Service, which he is disputing.
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The Monet—held through Weiss’s GW Crown Holdings LLC—is being sold to cover $123 million in debt owed to Bank of America. While a buyer has been lined up, the sale remains subject to qualified bids and, if necessary, an auction at the Miami offices of the law firm Venable LLP.
In a limited objection filed Friday, Jefferies asked the court to compel Weiss to disclose the identity of the prospective buyer. The firm pointed to the sale of another comparable Monet “Water Lilies” painting— Nymphéas (1914–17), which once belong to Sydell Miller—for $65.5 million at a Sotheby’s evening sale last November after a 17-minute bidding war. Jefferies argued that Weiss should be required to prove that the buyer “is not an insider and has not directly or indirectly agreed to provide consideration (other than customary brokerage fees) to any party other than the debtor.”
A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Tuesday.