A rare watercolour study by Paul Cézanne believed lost for nearly 60 years fetched more than $19 million US at a New York auction on Tuesday.

A rare watercolor study by French artist Paul Cézanne, believed lost and last seen in 1953, has sold for more than $19 million US at a New York auction. A rare watercolor study by French artist Paul Cézanne, believed lost and last seen in 1953, has sold for more than $19 million US at a New York auction. (Christie's/Associated Press)

Christie's auction house said A Card Player sold to a buyer who wished to remain anonymous. The price included the buyer's premium.

The watercolour was a study for Cézanne's celebrated series of oil paintings titled Card Players.

It was rediscovered this year in the collection of the late Dr. Heinz Eichenwald, a well-known collector from Dallas, Texas.

The painting shows a man in a hat and jacket seated at a table. Rendered in hues of blue and ochre, it was previously known to scholars only from a black-and-white photograph.

The French post-impressionist artist created the five-painting Card Players series between 1890 and 1896.

The preparatory study offers a rare glimpse into Cézanne's creative process. The figure in the painting is that of Paulin Paulet, a gardener on Cézanne's estate near Aix-en-Provence, France. It was last displayed at a New York gallery in 1953.

Christie's said Eichenwald inherited the work from his father. Its presale estimate was $15 million to $20 million.

The Courtauld Gallery in London exhibited the five-painting series in 2010; the exhibition travelled to the Metropolitan Museum of Art last year.