Sotheby's to auction finest Cezanne watercolour

One of the most famous watercolours by great French post-impressionist Paul Cezanne is due to go under the hammer at Sotheby's auction house in New York. “Nature morte au melon vert” is expected to fetch up to $US 18 MLN.

Another artist’s masterpiece – “Curtain, Jug and Fruit bowl” – that was sold for over $US 60 MLN last year is considered the most expensive still life ever.

Every year thousands of tourists visit the artist's home town, Aix-en-Provence, in southern France, but find few of his paintings are kept there. 

Cezanne's Museum says the main reason is down to his lack of popularity when he was alive.

Like many of the impressionists, he was considered unconventional by his contemporaries.