Nir Hod’s works were like a magnet for passersby on the opening day of Expo Chicago. In his latest paintings in the ongoing series “100 Years Is Not Enough,” on view at Los Angeles dealer Michael Kohn’s booth, the artist continues to appropriate and revise Claude Monet’s famous water lilies. The New York-based Israeli artist further abstracts the Impressionist master’s iconic floating flowers, transposing them onto a more modern and visually striking metallic background. The silvery surface functions as a pseudo mirror, drawing the viewer directly into the canvas. According to the gallery, Hod’s practice draws on personal memory and “traumatic historical events” to create tension between beauty and destruction.

Nir Hod at New Wave Art Wknd Collection tour and Supper Party: presented by Christie’s.

Five additional examples of the series, in different sizes and at different prices, were snapped up in the early hours of the fair by mainly U.S. collectors; at least one buyer was described as a private museum in Switzerland. This particular work sold to a private U.S. collection for $135,000—a price that bests Hod’s current auction record, which stands at $119,094 for The Life We Left Behind (2022), which sold at de Pury in 2022 according to the Artnet Price Database.

Hod is also the current subject of a solo show at Gavlak Palm Beach, on view through May 31. The exhibition features nine new chrome paintings and one sculpture, ranging from $25,000 to $110,000.

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