10 Most Expensive Pablo Picasso Paintings

               For some time I have not been able to paint, blame it to my laziness or whatever, but of course, it’s more because of the hot weather here in New Delhi. It gets way hot in summer here and humid. You just can’t imagine doing anything. Temperature can go up to 45 C (116 F) and that’s when it becomes literally a microwave outside (and inside as well unless you can afford an AC) and I can’t afford an AC. It’s “burned cookie” weather, in short. Just buy some eggs and oil, you might also decide to fry some omelet on the road itself on your walk, I think…ahahaha…well, so I am doing a bit of art study and just wanted to update.

            1. Le Reve (1932)

               Medium: Oil on Canvas

               Size: 51 x 38 Inches

               Price: $155 million in 2013

 

               Marie-Therese, Picasso’s mistress, was the subject behind this very expensive painting. It captures his muse asleep on a chair, a scene that was repeated in another painting from the same series “La Lecture”. The portrait is said to have been completed over an afternoon in 1932 when Picasso was 50 years old; Marie Therese was 24. The painting is famous for its explicit content (a penis can be seen on the face) but even more famous because of an accident that occurred in 2006. In 1997, the painting became the sixth most expensive painting ever sold at Christie’s at a staggering $48.4 million. By 2006, the then owner of the painting Steve Wynn was planning to sell the painting for nearly thrice the price in 1997 - $139 million. Unfortunately, while Wynn was showing the work to his friend, put his elbow through the canvas, puncturing it in the left forearm of the painting and creating a six-inch tear. After a $90,000 repair, the work was re-valued at $85 million. Wynn proceeds to claim the $53 million difference, from his Lloyd’s of London insurers. When the insurers balked, Wynn sued them in 2007. In 2013, Steven A. Cohen of SAC Capital brought the painting from Wynn for $155 million. The price is estimated to be the highest ever paid for an artwork by a U.S. collector.

            2. Nude, Green leaves and Bust (1932)

               Medium: Oil on Canvas

               Size: 64 x 51 Inches.

               Price: 106.5 million in 2010

               Back in 1952, Los Angeles art collectors Sidney and Frances Brody brought the artwork for a bargain price of $17,000. Rumored to be painted in a day, the painting represents the rich phase of Picasso’s carrier. By this time, Picasso had become very skilled in his art and began using symbolism. The painting depicts Picasso’s famous mistress and muse Marie-Therese Walter, sprawls across the bottom half of the canvas, while her bust adorns a pedestal and the leaves are of philodendron or “Love Tree” that Picasso had in his room. A closer looks reveals Picasso’s lips emerging from behind the veil. The painting remained in the Brody collection until May 2010, when it fetch $106.5 million at a Christie's auction. The painting is widely rumored to be a part of Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovich's art collection.

            3. Garcon a la Pipe (1905)

               Medium: Oil on Canvas

               Size: 39.4 x 32 Inches

               Price: $104 million 2004

               A portrait of a Parisian working boy; holding a pipe in his and wearing a string of roses on his head like a crown. An artwork painted when Picasso was just 24. And as the colors suggest, the artwork belongs to Picasso’s "Rose Period". In 1905, the American ambassador to Britain, bought the painting for $30,000 and remained in his private collection until 2004. Betsey, Whitney’s wife, had set up the philanthropic Green Tree Foundation after her husband died in 1982. The foundation put up for auction with Sotheby’s in 2004. It was sold for $104 million against the Sotheby’s expert pre-auction estimate at $70 million.

            4. Dora Maar Au Chat (1941)

               Medium: Oil on Canvas

               Size: 50.5 x 37.5 Inches

               Price: $95.216 million in 2006 

               It depicts Dora Maar, the painter’s lover, seated on a chair with a small cat perched on her shoulder. It’s one of the many portraits Picasso did, of Dora Maar, over their nearly decade-long relationship. Picasso fell in love with the 29 year old Maar at the age of 55 and soon began living with her. In 196, Chicago based art collectors Leigh and Mary Block sold the painting to a private collection. After that the painting was never shown until the 21^st century. In 2006, the artwork was estimated at $50 million by Sotheby’s, but was sold at much higher price than the pre-auction estimates, $95.216 million. This artwork has a very interesting background because till now, the present owner of the painting still remains unknown to the general public, except for rumors that points to the Georgian mining magnate and the then Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina (Boris) Ivanishvili, who sold his Moscow bank, a week before the auction for $550 million.

            5. Famme Aux Bras Croises (1902)

               Medium: Oil on Canvas

               Size: 32 x 23 Inches

               Price: $55 million in 2000

               Also known as the “Woman with Crossed Arms”, this artwork belongs to Picasso’s "Blue Period". The subject behind these particular painting is not much know. Some rumored to be an inmate at the Saint-Lazare hospital-prison in Paris. One of the owners of this famous painting was Gertrude Stein, a writer and art collector who famously became the subject of Picasso’s painting in 1906. In 1936, it was sold to an American art collector, Chauncey McCormick and remained with the McCormick family until 2000, when it was sold via Christie’s to an anonymous buyer, following a tremendous bidding war for $55 million.

            6. Pierrette’s Wedding (1905)

               Medium: Oil on Canvas

               Size: 48 x 72 Inches

               Price: $51.3 million in 1989

               Also painted during his Blue period, the painting “Pierrette’s Wedding” shows Harlequin blowing kiss to the bribe. The presence of blurred images might have suggests that the painting was unfinished, but some art expert claims it’s a finish work. In 1907, art dealer and Picasso’s friend, Josef Stransky, acquired the painting. Later between, 1945 and 1962, it was passed into the hands of Paulo Picasso, the artist’s son. Thereafter, Swedish financer Frederick Roos purchased the painting and donated it to the French government. In November 1989, the painting went up on auction. Japanese real estate developer Tomonori Tsurumaki placed the winning bid of $51.3 million via telephone from Tokyo. At that time, this was a record price for a Picasso sold at an auction.

            7. Femme Assise Dans un Jardin (1938)

               Medium: Oil on Canvas

               Size: 51.5 x 38.4 Inches

               Price: $49.5 million in 1999

               One of the best examples of Picasso’s cubist style, “Femme Assise Dans un Jardin” depicts once again, Dora Maar, but this time in a garden setting. By this time, Picasso had started experiments on his famous Cubism. Supposed to be completed with a span of a day, this artwork remained in the private collection of cellist and composer Daniel Saidenberg for many years until it was sold in 1997 after Saidedberg’s death. But in 1999, it was sold for $49.5 million at a Sotheyby’s auction in New York.

            8. Yo, Piccaso (1901)

               Medium: Oil on Canvas

               Size: 28.9 x 23.8 Inches

               Price: $47.9 million in 1989

               This early painting by Picasso was a self-portrait from the “Blue Period”. In 1981, the panting fetched a six-figure amount, $5.8 million, at an auction by Sotheby’s, to a well-known art collector Wendell Cherry. Eight years later, Cherry took back the artwork to auction the auction block. Once again “Yo, Picasso” was up at Sotheby’s auction. Famous auctioneer, John L. Marion, concluded the bidding with the winning bid at $43.5 million, plus 10% Sotheby’s auction fee, totaling to $47.9 million. When the painting was sold in 1989, it became the second-most costliest painting at that time.

            9: La Lecture (1932)

               Medium: Oil on Penal

               Size: 25.8 x 20 Inches

               Price: $40.71 million in 2011

               “La Lecture”, once again it features Marie-Therese Walter. As can been seen from the artwork, the blonde Marie is captured nude asleep on a chair, a book rest on her nap. This painting was created the same year as “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust”. In 1932, “La Lecture” went on a display at the Galerie Georges Petit in Paris. Interestingly, this painting also brought to an end to Picasso’s marriage with Olga Khokhlova when Olga realized that the model in the painting was not herself. The painting came up for auction after travelling through several prestigious art collections to Sotheby’s in 2011. An anonymous Russian client bought the painting over a telephone bid for $40.71 million, in the super-short bidding lasting only eight minutes.

            10. Au Lapin Agile (1904)

               Medium: Oil on Canvas

               Size: 39 x 39.5 Inches

               Price: $40.7 million in 1989

               There is an interesting story behind his particular painting. Apparently, Picasso painted “Au Lapin Agile” in return for free meals at the famous cabaret of the same name in Monmartre, Paris. Picasso presented the painting to Frede, the owner of the cabaret, who not knowing then the value of the artwork, sold it for mere $20, in 1912. In 1952, art collector Joan Whitney Payson acquired the painting. By then the value of the painting had ballooned from $20 to $60,000. The painting remained with the Payson family until 1989, when the art collector’s daughter Linda de Roulet consigned the painting to a Sotheby’s auction. It was sold to Annenburg Collection for $40.7 million, against the pre-auction estimates between $35-$40 million.

        Last Word: Damn!!! I just need $1 million for now, the rest can come later. lol :P