Picasso works bring in $109M at Bellagio auction

[left-of-center2012]

The largest, most significant art auction in Las Vegas took place at the Bellagio this evening, where 11 works by Pablo Picasso changed hands in a room that replicated Sotheby’s storied New York saleroom.

MGM collaborated with the prestigious auction house to hold the event within days of the 140th anniversary of the famed artist’s birthday. Resort officials have announced plans to use proceeds from the event to add diverse and inclusive works to its fine art collection.

On the auction block:

Femme au béret rouge-orange, a 1938 portrait of Picasso’s muse and lover Marie Thérèse Walter, wearing her signature beret,
sold for $35M.

Buste d’homme, late-period works included in the monumental 1970 exhibition at the Palais des Papes in Avignon, considered to be among his most masterful works of portraiture,
sold for $8M.

Homme et enfant, a 1969 painting that exemplifies the power and complexity that defines Picasso’s late work,
sold for $21M.

Tete d’homme, a 1969 self portrait inspired by Vincent Van Gogh,
sold for $1.85M.

Tete d’homme barbu, a 1956 ceramic piece featuring a double-sided portrait of a bearded man,
sold for $190K.

Nature morte au panier de fruits et aux fleurs, a still life painted during the Nazi occupation of Paris in 1942,
sold for $14.25M.

Nature morte aux fleurs et au compotier, painted in 1943, noted for its contrasting colors,
sold for $7M.

Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe, a terracotta plate hand-painted by Picasso in 1962,
sold for $1.75M.

La Fenetre de l’atelier La Californie, a 1959 paintingnoted for the artist’suse of color and expressive brush strokes,
sold for $170K.

Pierrot, made in 1917, a brush and ink work on paper laid down on board,
sold for $3.65M.

Aiguiere – Visage, an incised white terracotta work made in 1954,
sold for $250K.

https://presslasvegas.com/news/picasso-works-bring-in-109m-at-bellagio-auction/

[JudyM]

1. Quite a haul there. Good on them for using the proceeds to support more diverse artists.

Donating would also be welcome but can’t have everything.

[IcyPeas]

2. Also "Frida Kahlo Painting Is Predicted to Sell For $30 Million, Breaking Multiple Records"

https://mymodernmet.com/frida-kahlo-painting-sothebys-auction-30-million/

The striking piece, Diego y yo (Diego and I), depicts a crying Frida Kahlo with the face of her husband and fellow artist Diego Rivera in the center of her forehead. It is predicted to sell for at least $30 million this November at a Modern Evening Sale in New York, surpassing the $8 million Kahlo painting that sold in 2016, and making it the most expensive Frida Kahlo painting ever sold.