A Claude Monet painting of a cast-iron railway bridge over the river Seine may break the auction record for the artist when it comes up for sale in New York in May, Christie's International said today at a news conference in London. "Le Pont du Chemin de Fer a Argenteuil," painted in 1873 during the early "high Impressionist" phase of the artist's career, could fetch about $35 million in a May 6 auction of Impressionist and modern art at Rockefeller Plaza, said the auction house. "Real French Impressionism is about the 1870s," said Jussi Pylkkanen, Christie's international director of Impressionist and modern art. "Most of these works are now in museums and there are very few masterpieces from the 1870s left in private hands."The auction record for Monet is the 18.5 million pounds ($36.4 million) paid for the 1904 canvas, "Nympheas," at Sotheby's in June, 2007. The three highest prices for Monet at auction have all been achieved by late works dating from after 1900, according to the saleroom result tracker Artnet. Pylkkanen said the bridge painting had been consigned to Christie's by a Swiss-based seller who had been guaranteed a minimum price. Previous Sale The painting last appeared at auction in November 1988, at Christie's, London, where it sold for 6.8 million pounds ($13.3 million) with fees, Artnet said. "If it's an iconic work, an early painting could make the record," said Alan Hobart of London's Pyms Gallery, who paid $14.6 million with fees for a 1902 Monet "Houses of Parliament" oil at Sotheby's, New York, in May 2001. "Private buyers from Russia and Asia could be interested, and so could a major museum like the Getty, but the painting would have to be in perfect condition," said Hobart. The Monet is part of a $350 million exhibition of highlights from Christie's spring season of international sales that will be on show at the auction house's King Street, London, headquarters from tomorrow through Feb. 27. The exhibition also includes Alberto Giacometti's 1960 sculpture "Grande Femme Debout II," which Christie's said is expected to fetch between $18 million and $25 million at its May 6 Impressionist and modern sale in New York. Three works have been selected from Christie's May 13 contemporary auction. Mark Rothko's 1952 abstract,"No. 15," is estimated to fetch about $40 million; Francis Bacon's 1976 "Three Studies for Self-Portrait" and Andy Warhol's 1966 "Double Marlon" are both valued at about $25 million, said Christie's. A 101-carat diamond estimated at $6 million to $8 million and a rare collection of Chinese-market clocks are also on show, among the highlights of Christie's forthcoming auctions in Hong Kong on May 27 and 28.