Henri Matisse's Bouquet painting to go under the hammer in New York

A painting celebrating Impressionist artist Henri Matisse's joy at France's first Bastille

Day after World War I will be offered at auction on May 5 in New York, Sotheby's said yesterday.

The painting, Bouquet For July 14, 1919, has an estimated value of between $18 and $25 million, said Emmanuel Di Donna, who heads Impressionist sales office at Sotheby's in New York.

The 116-by-89-centimetre painting "heralds the fresh and colourful style that would define Matisse's career from 1919 onwards, and signals the artist's renewed sense of optimism following one of the most troubling periods of his career," read a Sotheby's statement.

Matisse presented the painting "to his dealers Bernheim-Jeune shortly after its completion and it remained in Bernheim's family collection until it was sold at auction in France," the statement read.

A private European collector bought the painting in 1982 for $1.3 million, which at the time set the record for a Matisse work of art.

The painting will be shown in Hong Kong and London before it goes to the auction block in New York.

The work, which depicts a bouquet of flowers in a blue and white vase resting on a plain wooden table, is an expression of Matisse's joy and optimism at the end of the war and after a difficult personal period, Mr Di Donna said.

The record price for a Matisse was set in February 2009, when the 1911 painting Cuckoos on a blue and pink carpet sold at auction in Paris for $45.2 million.