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Picasso's Mistress Sets Auction Record for Year
2002-06-26
LONDON - A painting of his mistress by Spanish master Pablo Picasso set a world record for an auction this year, fetching just short of $24 million on Tuesday.The sale by auction house Christie's of the rarely seen "Nu au Collier" (Nude with a Necklace) passed a record for the dearest canvas of 2002 set only on Monday by London rivals Sotheby's, who sold French impressionist Claude Monet's "Nympheas" (Water Lilies) for $20.3 million. "The momentum of European buying has been building over the last two years and has now reached an all time high, culminating in the result for Picasso's 'Nu au Collier', the highest price achieved at auction in 2002," auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen said. Christie's had originally priced the painting -- not seen in public for half a century -- at $9 to $13.5 million. At Tuesday evening's impressionist and modern art auction it was knocked down to an anonymous buyer for $23.97 million. "Nu au Collier" is one of a series Picasso painted in the early 1930s of his young lover Marie-Therese Walter. It was part of a private European collection and had not been seen in public since two exhibitions in Oslo in the 1950s. The 45-year-old Picasso, then married to Olga, famously bumped into the 17-year-old Marie-Therese in the street in Paris in 1927 allegedly blurting out the corny pick-up line, "I am Picasso. You and I are going to do great things together." It worked, and they did -- although Picasso did not leave his wife until 1935 when Marie-Therese gave birth to their daughter Maia. "Nu au Collier," painted in 1932, is unusual for Picasso in its vibrant use of color and line that closely echoes the style of his friend and competitor Henri Matisse. A Monet work in Tuesday's auction -- "Vetheuil," painted in 1880 and ending his run of urban topics -- also fetched well above its pre-sale estimate, going under the hammer for $7.7 million to a private European collector.
Monet, Cezanne stolen from French dealer's home (2008-03-17)Works by Monet, Brueghel stolen from museum (2007-08-06)Picasso's Mistress Sets Auction Record for Year (2002-06-26)Monet to Be Sold After a Century in Hiding (2001-04-27)7 (11285)
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