"The Woman Sitting By the Window" sells for $ 103 million
The painting "The Woman Sitting Near the Window (Mary Therese)" by Pablo Picasso was sold for $ 103.4 million, during an auction held at Christie's in New York.
A number of art collectors competed for about 19 minutes to purchase this 1.46 x 1.14 meter painting, drawn by Picasso in 1932, and eventually sold for $ 90 million, and its final price was 103.4 million after adding fees and commissions.
This amount is almost double the initial estimate put by "Christie's" for this painting, which represents Picasso's mistress and inspiration, Mary Therese Walter, of $ 55 million.
The sale of this painting confirms the vitality of the art market, which has not actually suffered from the epidemic despite its slowdown due to the health and economic concerns, but it also reflects the special status of the works of Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973).
The President of "Christie's America" Bonnie Brennan said, in a press conference via the Internet, that the good outcome of Thursday's auction, which amounted to a total of 481 million dollars, "reflects the actual return to normalcy." And she noted that "the art market has returned to the right track," according to Agence France-Presse.
The current owner of the painting "The Sitting Woman" acquired it only eight years ago during an auction in London for 28.6 million pounds, or about 44.8 million dollars.
This brings the number of Picasso works that exceed the symbolic threshold of $ 100 million to five paintings. Even before this auction, he was already alone at the head of the few artists whose works were sold at this price, and among his four paintings that had previously reached this level, "Women of Algeria", which holds the record for the price of the paintings of the Spanish artist, as they were sold in May. 2015 meeting $ 179.4 million.
Only 14 paintings exceeded the hundred million threshold in auctions. With the exception of Picasso, only the Italian artist, Amedeo Modigliani, sold more than one of his works for a price that exceeds this ceiling, as he has two paintings on the list.
It is the first time in two years that the work has reached this level, after Claude Monet's
painting "The Grindstone" was sold
for $ 110.7 million at an auction for "Sotheby's" in New York in 2019.
The painting "In This Case" by the American artist Jean-Michel Basquia was sold on Tuesday. In exchange for $ 93.1 million at Christie's in the first major spring auctions, which is one of the most important in the world of auctions.
The year 1932, portrayed during The Sitting Woman, is often considered the best and most productive of Picasso's career, and many major galleries have been devoted to the works produced by the Spanish painter during this year.