pablo picasso

Christie’s Global Art Sales Achieve $3.2 Billion in the First Half of 2011

Henri Matisse’s $4.8 Million Oceanie, La Mer Scarf

Oceanie, La Mer Scarf by Henri Matisse Can you imagine paying a whopping $4.8 million for a mere Scarf? Believe it or not, someone did. But this isn’t the kind of cold-weather accessory you’d wear around your neck, even if it would go particularly nicely with a black trench. Instead, it’s a Silk Scarf designed by none other than Henri Matisse entitled Oceanie, La Mer (Océanie, Le Ciel). The history of the scarf begins in 1964, when Zika Ascher, founder of the eponymous scarf brand, convinced a powerhouse of artists to produce pieces for his label (Pablo Picasso, Henry Moore, and Matisse were among the most recognizable names). The silk scarf is the original piece of limited run of thirty scarves produced bearing Matisse’s Oceanie, La Mer print, which was based on his visit to Tahiti in 1940. And before being shipped off to London for auction at Christie’s, it hung on a wall in the artist’s studio.

Picasso Masterpieces Earn $68.5 Million at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Auctions in London

A Christie’s Auction House staff with Pablo Picasso’s Jeune Fille Endormie and Femme Assise, Robe Bleue Pablo Picasso’s portraits of three different lovers raised £42.2 million ($68.5 million) at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Sale in London. Top lot on the night was a Femme assise, robe bleue, depiction of Dora Maar, who became Picasso’s lover and muse at the expense of Marie-Therese Walter. The 1939 painting, which had been unseen in public since 1967, sold for £18 million ($29.1 million), several times the pre-sale estimate of £4-8 million. It had been acquired by the seller’s family from Beyeler in about 1968. The new buyer was the Swiss-based Greek collector Dimitri Mavrommatis, bidding by telephone to Thomas Seydoux, Christie’s international head of Impressionist and modern art, the auction house said after the sale.

Picasso’s Femmes Lisant (Deux Personnages) Sold For $21.3 Million At Sotheby’s

Femmes Lisant (Deux Personnages) by Pablo Picasso Sotheby’s opened Impressionist and Modern Art Sales week in New York on Tuesday. The sale totaled $170.5 million, against a pre-sale estimate of $159 million to $230 million. Of the 59 works on offer 15, or 25 percent went unsold. Star of the evening was Picasso’s Femmes Lisant (Deux Personnages), a 1934 image of the artist’s mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter reading with her sister. It brought the evening’s highest price — $19 million, or $21.3 million including Sotheby’s fees. (Final prices include the buyer’s commission to Sotheby’s: 25 percent of the first $50,000; 20 percent of the next $950,000; and 12 percent of the rest. Estimates do not reflect commissions.) The canvas is among the most monumental of the iconic series of pictures depicting the young woman, and was last on the market in 1981.

Spring Art Auctions Begin This Week

The major spring art auctions begin this week and will feature many instantly recognizable works by artists like Warhol, Koons and Picasso. The rapidly rebounding art market faces a critical test next week in New York, when auction houses will try to sell a mix of Impressionist, modern and contemporary works valued at nearly $1 billion. A dozen works are each priced near $20 million. Here are some highlights:

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Jeune Fille Endormie by Pablo Picasso Will go Under the Hammer

Jeune Fille Endormie by Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso’s painting Jeune Fille Endormie, showing Marie-Therese snoozing on her folded arms, is estimated to fetch £9 million ($15 million) to £12 million ($20 million) at Christie’s International. An anonymous American donor has given a Picasso canvas to the University of Sydney on the condition the school use proceeds from the painting’s sale to fund scientific research. Jeune fille endormie, painted in 1935, shows Marie-Therese Walter asleep on her arms. It was bought by Walter P Chrysler, founder of the motor company, and was shown at a Picasso retrospective at MoMa in 1939 and an exhibition of works from the Chrysler collection in 1941. It has changed hands just once since and not been seen in public. Giovanna Bertazzoni, head of impressionist and modern art at Christie’s London, called it an absolute jewel of a painting by one of the great artistic geniuses of western art.

Pablo Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves and Bust Goes On Display In The UK

World’s Most Expensive Painting – Pablo-Picaso’s Nude, Green Leaves and Bust The most expensive painting ever to be sold at auction, Pablo Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, is now on show in the UK for the first time at the Tate Modern. The 1932 painting sold to a private collector for a record $106 million (£68 million) at Christie’s in New York last May. The anonymous buyer has lent the painting to Tate Modern, where it will be on view for the next two years. Securing the painting is a coup for the Tate. It will hang in the new Pablo Picasso room on the third floor of the gallery. This is an outstanding painting by Picasso, said Tate director Nicholas Serota. I am delighted that through the generosity of the lender we are able to bring it to the British public for the first time.

Pablo Picasso’s Painting La Lecture Sells for £25.2 Million at Sotheby’s

Pablo Picasso’s Painting “La Lecture” A Pablo Picasso painting, La Lecture fetched £25.2 million ($40.7 million) at a Sotheby’s auction on Tuesday. La Lecture, which shows the artist’s 17-year-old mistress Marie-Therese Walter snoozing in an armchair, went for double the estimate at sale in London last night. It was a far from frenzied evening. Bidding for La Lecture opened at £9m and crawled slowly upwards, comfortably exceeding a pre-sale estimate of between £12m and 18m. Sotheby’s said the bidder was anonymous and announced themselves pleased with the result. There were at least seven bidders from all around the world and it was consistent with the interest we had before the sale – it is a widely admired and much appreciated painting, said Helena Newman, European chairman of Sotheby’s impressionist and modern art.

Pablo Picasso Painting Has Set a New Record for the Most Expensive Art Work Sold at Auction

Pablo Picasso - Nude, Green Leaves and Bust

A 1932 painting titled “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso painting has become the most expensive art work to be auctioned as it earned $106m, at Christie’s New York. Held by the late Los Angeles collectors Frances and Sidney Brody since the 1950s, the painting was won by an unnamed bidder through the telephone. The painting, Nu au Plateau de Sculpteur (Nude, Green Leaves and Bust), has Marie—Therese Walter, the artist’s mistress in reclining and also in a bust. Picasso included his own profile in the blue background.