Art News Galore

World’s most expensive painting goes on exhibition

Filed under: Art Sales — Alan @ 7:33 am

The painting by Pablo Picasso that last year broke all records for the price paid for a single work of art is to be displayed in public in the UK. Nude, green leaves and bust is being loaned to the Tate Modern by its owner, who remains anonymous. Sir Nicholas Serota, the director of the Tate, is understandably delighted at being able to display such an iconic painting. Picasso created this masterpiece one day in 1932, and it is part of a sequence of paintings depicting his love at time – Marie Theres Walter.

It was in May 2010 that this seminal work of art entered the record books, selling at New York auction house Christie’s for £66m, $106.5m. Previous to this sale, it had been in the same hands since 1951, when collectors Sidney and Frances Brody bought it for a mere $19,800. During their entire ownership it was only shown publicly once, to mark Picasso’s 80^th birthday in 1961.

He painted Nude, green leaves and bust at the height of the passionate affair he enjoyed with Ms Walter, who was just a young girl of 17 when Picasso first met her in 1927. He apparently accosted her coming out of a Paris metro station and grabbed her arm, declaring who he was and his intentions towards her. The liaison lasted for 8 years until Picasso met Dora Maar in 1935, and swapped his affections. The painting clearly depicts the submissiveness of the subject, giving it almost as many critics as fans.

There has been endless supposition as to who the actual owner is, and the story that the owner is British has gained credence with it being displayed at the Tate. The New York Times suggested at the time that one bidder had been Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea FC.

Pablo Picasso’s La Lecture sells for £25.2 million

Filed under: Uncategorized — Alan @ 3:33 am

£25.2 million was the going price, in London at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art sale, for Pablo Picasso’s La Lecture, his portrait of the teenage mistress the legendary artist kept. That is more than twice the expected price that some unnamed bidder paid.

This 1932 painting was of Marie-Therese Walter sleeping in an armchair. She was only 17 years old. Marie was the subject, as well, of other of Picasso’s paintings, including Green Leaves, Bust, and Nude. Bust busted the world’s record in New York in May 2010, being sold at £69.8million.

Picasso had been married at the time to Olga Khokhlova, the Ukrainian dancer. This was only half the reason the affair was kept under hat for so long. The other was her age.

Chair of Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Europe, Helena Newman, explained, “Picasso’s La Lecture going for this price has made us very glad, you can imagine. After all, it is an amazing piece from Picasso’s most glorious period work.”

Massive art theft by loan burglar

Filed under: Art crime — Alan @ 9:09 pm

French police said that five paintings valued at £430 including pieces by Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso were stolen from a museum yesterday.

A spokesman for the police stated that the works were reported missing from the Paris Museum of Modern Art and also included paintings by George Braque, Fernand Leger, and Amedeo Modigliani.

It was 7am when it was discovered that a window had been shattered and the padlock of a grille was smashed.  A review of the CCTV footage showed a person had entered through the window.

Investigators and police had closed off the museum, which is located across the River Seine directly opposite of the Eiffel Tower.

Le Monde reported that since the paintings are very well known it will be hard for the thief to sell them on the open market.  They also stated that in the past thefts of paintings were sold to private collectors.

A member of the museum staff stated that all questions regarding the theft could only be answered by the office of Bertrand Delanoe, the Paris mayor.

An investigation of the theft is underway by the France elite police unit, the Brigade de Repression du Banditisme.

In December of 2009 an Edgar Degas painting was stolen in Marseille during the night while on exhibition.