Monet from MOMA at Sotheby's
 

The Museum of modern art, new York, sells a painting by Claude Monet Poplars at Giverny, 1887 from his collection.

The work will be auctioned on the "Impressionism and modernism" at Sotheby's in London on 3 February 2015, its preliminary estimate of £9-12 million
As reported in the catalog, the picture is sold to Finance future acquisitions. At the moment, Sotheby's has already received an "irrevocable offer to purchase the painting," which means that the buyer has already agreed to buy over a certain amount, but if someone during the auction will have to pay more, then the buyer who made the original proposal, and Sotheby's will receive a certain percentage of the amount in excess of that originally proposed.
The picture at one time belonged to the art Institute, Chicago, who sold it in 1947, and in MOMA she came in 1951 as a gift collectors William and Evelyn Jaffe.