Picasso's Portrait of Young Mistress Fetches $139 Million at Sotheby's Auction

2023-11-13 08:40:04

Picasso's Artwork Portraying Young Muse Achieves ÂŁ108.2 Million at Sotheby's Event

A masterpiece by Picasso, known as “Femme à la montre”, commanded a staggering £108.2 million in a recent auction, marking it as the artist's second-highest selling piece to date. The oil painting, created in 1932, was a highlight of Sotheby’s New York auction that featured the private collection of the late Emily Fisher Landau.

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The artwork, spanning 51¼ x 38 inches, showcases Picasso's young lover and "golden muse", Marie-Thérèse Walter. She was a prominent figure in numerous Picasso creations, gracing the canvases of his most celebrated portraits.

The portrait stems from a period deemed to be amongst Picasso's most fruitful, with an entire exhibit dedicated to this era amassed by the Musée Picasso in Paris and Tate Modern in London in 2018. Julian Dawes, Sotheby's leader in Impressionist & Modern Art in the Americas, described it as "a masterpiece by every measure,” with vibrant primary colors that burst from the five-foot canvas.

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The relationship between Picasso and Walter began in Paris in 1927, with Picasso then married to his first wife, Olga Khokhlova. Their affair eventually reflected in his work, which prompted the dissolution of his marriage following a large-scale retrospective.

Picasso depicted Walter in “Femme à la montre” following this pivotal retrospective in Paris. Sotheby's narrates this piece as a canvas where Picasso's private revelations translate into a symphony of color, encapsulating new liberties with an intricately harmonious composition.

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The piece was a part of Fisher Landau's assembly, showcased alongside creations from prominent artists like Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol. The entire collection was projected to surpass £311 million in total sales, with other highlights including Jasper Johns’ American flag painting selling for £31.9 million and Ed Ruscha’s “Boss” achieving £30.7 million.

Post a tragedy at her home in 1969, Fisher Landau began her significant art collection journey, stating in an interview that the incident served as "seed money for a collection" when she decided against reclaiming her jewelry and chose art instead.

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Last year, a peculiar depiction of Walter by Picasso fetched £52.5 million at Sotheby's, with his renowned 1932 works “Femme assise près d’une fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse)” and “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” going for £80.4 million and £82.9 million respectively.

In the annals of auction history, Picasso’s “Les femmes d’Alger (Version “O”) stands out as one of the priciest, clinching £139.5 million at Christie's in New York back in May 2015, which was then an all-time record for artwork sold at auction.

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