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Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
1932 PICASSO
1
January 22 Le Repos
2006 SOLD for $ 35M by Christie's
Pablo Picasso was shared between his desire to make portraits of his young use Marie-Thérèse and his marital impossibility to reveal it to Olga.
In January 1932, willing to display the nude, he is more cautious and comes back to his style of the previous phase where the face cannot be identified. The first full nudes are Le Repos on January 22 and Le Sommeil on January 23. On January 24, le Rêve opens the phase of increased eroticism with a less disfigured face.
Le Repos, oil on canvas 162 x 130 cm, was sold for $ 35M from a lower estimate of $ 15M by Christie's on May 2, 2006, lot 43.
In January 1932, willing to display the nude, he is more cautious and comes back to his style of the previous phase where the face cannot be identified. The first full nudes are Le Repos on January 22 and Le Sommeil on January 23. On January 24, le Rêve opens the phase of increased eroticism with a less disfigured face.
Le Repos, oil on canvas 162 x 130 cm, was sold for $ 35M from a lower estimate of $ 15M by Christie's on May 2, 2006, lot 43.
2
April 1 Buste de femme de profil
2018 SOLD for £ 27.3M by Sotheby's
From January to March 1932 Pablo Picasso took the step. His pictures of Marie-Thérèse on large canvases will be the essential contribution to his upcoming exhibitions, no matter with Olga.
Boisgeloup offers a haven of tranquility to Pablo. Marie-Thérèse is the Lady of his castle, always calm even when she is not sleeping. She becomes increasingly recognizable, especially by her profile.
On June 19, 2018, Sotheby's sold as lot 17 for £ 27.3M Buste de femme de profil, also titled Femme écrivant, painted in Boisgeloup on April 1, 1932. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Of medium size 116 x 73 cm, this oil on canvas offers an intimate scene. The head is limited to its outline and to two small curved lines in the normal place of the eye and the ear, without the distortions that Pablo practiced so often. The big nose, the mouth half-open to concentrate and the rather strong chin are recognizable, and the yellow ponytail confirms the identity of the blonde muse.
Marie-Thérèse is against the light in a superimposition effect with the frame of the closed window. The pleasant colors are dominated by the blue of the sky. The garden brings a green halo.
Boisgeloup offers a haven of tranquility to Pablo. Marie-Thérèse is the Lady of his castle, always calm even when she is not sleeping. She becomes increasingly recognizable, especially by her profile.
On June 19, 2018, Sotheby's sold as lot 17 for £ 27.3M Buste de femme de profil, also titled Femme écrivant, painted in Boisgeloup on April 1, 1932. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Of medium size 116 x 73 cm, this oil on canvas offers an intimate scene. The head is limited to its outline and to two small curved lines in the normal place of the eye and the ear, without the distortions that Pablo practiced so often. The big nose, the mouth half-open to concentrate and the rather strong chin are recognizable, and the yellow ponytail confirms the identity of the blonde muse.
Marie-Thérèse is against the light in a superimposition effect with the frame of the closed window. The pleasant colors are dominated by the blue of the sky. The garden brings a green halo.
3
November - Le Sauvetage
2014 SOLD for $ 31.5M by Sotheby's
On May 7, 2014, Sotheby's sold for $ 31.5M from a lower estimate of $ 14M an enigmatic painting by Picasso, lot 24. Titled Le Sauvetage, this oil on canvas 97 x 130 cm made in November 1932 is the ultimate piece in a small series that Picasso explained. But must we ever believe what artists say, especially when they have the wit and humor of Pablo ?
Pablo is madly in love with Marie-Thérèse but could not spend the summer vacation with her. The reckless young woman was seriously ill after a swim in a polluted river. The announced inspiration for Le Sauvetage is a mixing between this tragedy and the happy days of an erotic summer in Dinard a few years earlier.
The composition juxtaposes pleasure and tragedy, by staging a group of young women similar to the ideal image of Marie-Thérèse in all roles: player, swimmer, drowned, lifesaver, rescued. Without any man.
This work was born from the rivalry of Picasso with Matisse who was at the same time preparing for Barnes the huge mural triptych La Danse II. It is not a coincidence that the bodies of Matisse's dancers and of Picasso's bathers are similarly contorted.
Nudes painted by Matisse in La Danse II are decorative and stylized but not at all anecdotal. Picasso wants to stay at the forefront of artistic expression and adds a narrative and even philosophical effect by this opposition between life and death.
If we consider in Le Sauvetage the variety of occupations and the desire for drama, we may state that this bizarre painting is as an epic precursor to Guernica.
Pablo is madly in love with Marie-Thérèse but could not spend the summer vacation with her. The reckless young woman was seriously ill after a swim in a polluted river. The announced inspiration for Le Sauvetage is a mixing between this tragedy and the happy days of an erotic summer in Dinard a few years earlier.
The composition juxtaposes pleasure and tragedy, by staging a group of young women similar to the ideal image of Marie-Thérèse in all roles: player, swimmer, drowned, lifesaver, rescued. Without any man.
This work was born from the rivalry of Picasso with Matisse who was at the same time preparing for Barnes the huge mural triptych La Danse II. It is not a coincidence that the bodies of Matisse's dancers and of Picasso's bathers are similarly contorted.
Nudes painted by Matisse in La Danse II are decorative and stylized but not at all anecdotal. Picasso wants to stay at the forefront of artistic expression and adds a narrative and even philosophical effect by this opposition between life and death.
If we consider in Le Sauvetage the variety of occupations and the desire for drama, we may state that this bizarre painting is as an epic precursor to Guernica.
4
December 11 La Lecture
2011 SOLD for £ 25.2M by Sotheby's
The very young Marie-Thérèse Walter was a beauty. Picasso, who had met her by chance in a Paris street, was dazzled by her body and face.
Pablo was married and waited five years before turning into art his passion for Marie-Thérèse. The art market has already twice acknowledged these portraits made in 1932 as major works of modern art and masterpieces of eroticism.
The beautiful blonde was at once voluptuous and innocent, and Pablo loved to see her in her sleep. She is naked and lying asleep next to the image of her carved bust, in a painting sold for $ 106M by Christie's on May 4, 2010.
Lightly dressed, she dozes in an armchair in the painting titled Le Rêve (The Dream), 130 x 97 cm. Steve Wynn wanted it to become the world's most expensive artwork, but the transaction foreseen at $ 139M was set aside when he accidentally damaged the canvas in October 2006.
La Lecture (The Reading), oil on panel 65 x 51 cm painted on December 11, 1932, has a composition similar to the Dream. Marie-Thérèse, a little more undressed, forgets the book on her lap and sleeps chastely and candidly, her head turned upward. The same sinuous lines surround the head and body, getting a remarkable realism by a geometric drawing of great simplicity. The solid colors are close to a Matisse or a Léger.
La Lecture was sold for £ 25.2M from a lower estimate of £ 12M on February 8, 2011 by Sotheby's, lot 8.
Pablo was married and waited five years before turning into art his passion for Marie-Thérèse. The art market has already twice acknowledged these portraits made in 1932 as major works of modern art and masterpieces of eroticism.
The beautiful blonde was at once voluptuous and innocent, and Pablo loved to see her in her sleep. She is naked and lying asleep next to the image of her carved bust, in a painting sold for $ 106M by Christie's on May 4, 2010.
Lightly dressed, she dozes in an armchair in the painting titled Le Rêve (The Dream), 130 x 97 cm. Steve Wynn wanted it to become the world's most expensive artwork, but the transaction foreseen at $ 139M was set aside when he accidentally damaged the canvas in October 2006.
La Lecture (The Reading), oil on panel 65 x 51 cm painted on December 11, 1932, has a composition similar to the Dream. Marie-Thérèse, a little more undressed, forgets the book on her lap and sleeps chastely and candidly, her head turned upward. The same sinuous lines surround the head and body, getting a remarkable realism by a geometric drawing of great simplicity. The solid colors are close to a Matisse or a Léger.
La Lecture was sold for £ 25.2M from a lower estimate of £ 12M on February 8, 2011 by Sotheby's, lot 8.
1955 Hotel Window by Hopper
2006 SOLD for $ 27M by Sotheby's
Edward Hopper is a director of the world around him. He is shy, laconic and conservative. His marriage to Jo, who is sociable, open and liberal, will last their lifetime. The notebooks scrupulously kept by Jo are often the only entry to understand Edward's creativity.
Jo becomes Edward's only model, which avoids jealousy, but he positions her against her own temperament. She lets go, and becomes the symbol of the loneliness felt by the artist. In 1942 in Nighthawks, Edward and Jo are the diners in the deserted restaurant. This famous painting is a great example of the atmosphere of a thriller in major art.
Edward carefully observes his surroundings : the hotels, restaurants and theaters of New York City, the road to Cape Cod and the gas stations. He takes sketches before making his paintings in his workshop. Often the realization, as in Nighthawks and Hotel Window, goes beyond his original intention in the gloomy.
Hotel Window, oil on canvas 102 x 140 cm, was painted in 1955. In the lobby of a hotel, a gray-haired woman absent-mindedly looks through the window at night. The room is poorly furnished and no one will disturb this old woman who has the same hard facial features as the Jo from Nighthawks, but 13 years older.
Hotel Window was sold for $ 27M by Sotheby's on November 29, 2006 from a lower estimate of $ 10M. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Jo becomes Edward's only model, which avoids jealousy, but he positions her against her own temperament. She lets go, and becomes the symbol of the loneliness felt by the artist. In 1942 in Nighthawks, Edward and Jo are the diners in the deserted restaurant. This famous painting is a great example of the atmosphere of a thriller in major art.
Edward carefully observes his surroundings : the hotels, restaurants and theaters of New York City, the road to Cape Cod and the gas stations. He takes sketches before making his paintings in his workshop. Often the realization, as in Nighthawks and Hotel Window, goes beyond his original intention in the gloomy.
Hotel Window, oil on canvas 102 x 140 cm, was painted in 1955. In the lobby of a hotel, a gray-haired woman absent-mindedly looks through the window at night. The room is poorly furnished and no one will disturb this old woman who has the same hard facial features as the Jo from Nighthawks, but 13 years older.
Hotel Window was sold for $ 27M by Sotheby's on November 29, 2006 from a lower estimate of $ 10M. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1962 WARHOL
1
Lemon Marilyn
2007 SOLD for $ 28M by Christie's
The series of twelve single Marilyn 51 x 41 cm are made with a single screen printing over acrylic paints of various colors. Two of these paintings are monochromatic. They are the precursors of the global imaging desired by Warhol.
The White Marilyn was sold for $ 41M by Christie's on May 13, 2014. The Lemon Marilyn was sold for $ 28M by Christie's on May 18, 2007, lot 18. The Orange Marilyn was sold for $ 16.3M by Christie's on November 15, 2006, lot 32.
The White Marilyn was sold for $ 41M by Christie's on May 13, 2014. The Lemon Marilyn was sold for $ 28M by Christie's on May 18, 2007, lot 18. The Orange Marilyn was sold for $ 16.3M by Christie's on November 15, 2006, lot 32.
2
Campbell's Soup
2017 SOLD for $ 27.5M by Christie's
In 1961 a still unknown Andy Warhol desired to be represented by Leo Castelli but the assistant of the boss was not convinced. Andy accepted the suggestion from a friend to execute a series of paintings featuring the Campbell's soup because it is an artefact that everybody sees everyday.
That first series will ultimately include eleven paintings in casein on linen prepared over a line drawing in graphite. The success encouraged Andy to prepare other popular themes and change to his faster technique using the silkscreen.
The Campbell's soup can, as seen by the user, plays a drama in three acts. First, it is a perfect cylinder adorned with an austere label defining its brand and its flavor selected among 32 varieties. At the end of the operation, it is a shapeless object emptied of its precious liquid, ready to be thrown without mercy into the garbage.
The intermediate act is the opening of the box. Big Campbell's Soup Can with Can Opener (Vegetable) was sold by Christie's for $ 24M on November 10, 2010, lot 8. and for $ 27.5M on May 17, 2017, lot 58 B.
Warhol shows a can of vegetable soup with the can opener in place, ready to attack. Made in early 1962, this large size painting 183 x 132 cm is one of the most important in his prolific series of Campbell's soups.
Warhol is at that time one of the artists who want to express the real world, the real life, in the circle of Leo Castelli. Such an artwork confirms that he has already abandoned a previous intention to imitate advertising.
The first visitors to his exhibitions were amused to see a new naive. This view has proven wrong. The daily act of opening the can of soup has a complex meaning in its contradiction : it is both brutal, since it violates the integrity of the box, and ordinary and essential, because it is useless if the user cannot access the soup.
That first series will ultimately include eleven paintings in casein on linen prepared over a line drawing in graphite. The success encouraged Andy to prepare other popular themes and change to his faster technique using the silkscreen.
The Campbell's soup can, as seen by the user, plays a drama in three acts. First, it is a perfect cylinder adorned with an austere label defining its brand and its flavor selected among 32 varieties. At the end of the operation, it is a shapeless object emptied of its precious liquid, ready to be thrown without mercy into the garbage.
The intermediate act is the opening of the box. Big Campbell's Soup Can with Can Opener (Vegetable) was sold by Christie's for $ 24M on November 10, 2010, lot 8. and for $ 27.5M on May 17, 2017, lot 58 B.
Warhol shows a can of vegetable soup with the can opener in place, ready to attack. Made in early 1962, this large size painting 183 x 132 cm is one of the most important in his prolific series of Campbell's soups.
Warhol is at that time one of the artists who want to express the real world, the real life, in the circle of Leo Castelli. Such an artwork confirms that he has already abandoned a previous intention to imitate advertising.
The first visitors to his exhibitions were amused to see a new naive. This view has proven wrong. The daily act of opening the can of soup has a complex meaning in its contradiction : it is both brutal, since it violates the integrity of the box, and ordinary and essential, because it is useless if the user cannot access the soup.
3
One Dollar Bill
2015 SOLD for £ 21M by Sotheby's
There is no doubt that Andy Warhol loved dollars, not just to fill his pockets but mainly as an undeniable symbol of modern America. He was also busy to create his own legend. Stories about his inspiration on this theme are certainly apocryphal.
On July 1, 2015, Sotheby's listed a wide selection of dollar paintings made by Warhol throughout his career, at first in the form of images of bills and later by more or less fanciful representations of the sign.
In early 1962 One Dollar Bill (silver certificate) is the gigantic cut down image of the front side of a one dollar bill. This casein and pencil on linen, 132 x 182 cm, was the first artwork made by Warhol on this theme and his only dollar painted entirely by hand. It is also contemporary with the series painted by hand of the variations on the soup cans. One Dollar Bill was sold for £ 21M from a lower estimate of £ 13M, lot 24.
From March 1962 Warhol imagines the multiplication of identical images by using silk screening. The US banknote is a suitable candidate for the first works in the new technique. The monumental 200 One Dollar Bills, 203 x 234 cm, showing 200 front sides in twenty lines of ten notes each, was sold for $ 43.7M by Sotheby's on 11 November 2009.
Coming back to the 2015 sale.
The back of the 2 dollar bill is also the subject of one of the works of 1962 and the excuse for a trial of green silkscreen ink. This painting 211 x 48 cm showing twenty lines of two notes each was unsold, lot 27.
Lot 26, also unsold in 2015, is a diptych dated 1962 and 1963 consisting of elements of same size and design as in lot 27. It is dedicated to the one dollar bill of which one of the elements of the diptych displays the front side and the other the back.It was sold for $ 3M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2018, lot 49.
On July 1, 2015, Sotheby's listed a wide selection of dollar paintings made by Warhol throughout his career, at first in the form of images of bills and later by more or less fanciful representations of the sign.
In early 1962 One Dollar Bill (silver certificate) is the gigantic cut down image of the front side of a one dollar bill. This casein and pencil on linen, 132 x 182 cm, was the first artwork made by Warhol on this theme and his only dollar painted entirely by hand. It is also contemporary with the series painted by hand of the variations on the soup cans. One Dollar Bill was sold for £ 21M from a lower estimate of £ 13M, lot 24.
From March 1962 Warhol imagines the multiplication of identical images by using silk screening. The US banknote is a suitable candidate for the first works in the new technique. The monumental 200 One Dollar Bills, 203 x 234 cm, showing 200 front sides in twenty lines of ten notes each, was sold for $ 43.7M by Sotheby's on 11 November 2009.
Coming back to the 2015 sale.
The back of the 2 dollar bill is also the subject of one of the works of 1962 and the excuse for a trial of green silkscreen ink. This painting 211 x 48 cm showing twenty lines of two notes each was unsold, lot 27.
Lot 26, also unsold in 2015, is a diptych dated 1962 and 1963 consisting of elements of same size and design as in lot 27. It is dedicated to the one dollar bill of which one of the elements of the diptych displays the front side and the other the back.It was sold for $ 3M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2018, lot 49.
1964 Study for a Self Portrait by Bacon
2012 SOLD for £ 21.5M by Christie's
Francis Bacon went deep into the artistic study of confusion between human beings.
Indeed Picasso did it before him, drawing in a single face the lines of loved women. When he mixes himself with one of his companions, Francis reaches an extreme level of questioning the mankind.
On June 27, 2012, Christie's sold for £ 21.5M a Study for a self-portrait painted in 1964 by Francis Bacon, 152 x 140 cm, lot 25. Please watch the film shared on the web by Christie's Multimedia.
A man sits in an empty room.
The analysis of this painting by the auction house shows that the head, very distorted, belongs to Francis as suggested by the title. The rest of the body displays the more massive features of Lucian Freud, from a photograph by John Deakin.
This surprising discovery is all the more plausible because 1964 was a very good year for the relations between the two artists. The portrait triptych of Lucian by Francis was sold £ 23M by Sotheby's on February 10, 2011.
Indeed Picasso did it before him, drawing in a single face the lines of loved women. When he mixes himself with one of his companions, Francis reaches an extreme level of questioning the mankind.
On June 27, 2012, Christie's sold for £ 21.5M a Study for a self-portrait painted in 1964 by Francis Bacon, 152 x 140 cm, lot 25. Please watch the film shared on the web by Christie's Multimedia.
A man sits in an empty room.
The analysis of this painting by the auction house shows that the head, very distorted, belongs to Francis as suggested by the title. The rest of the body displays the more massive features of Lucian Freud, from a photograph by John Deakin.
This surprising discovery is all the more plausible because 1964 was a very good year for the relations between the two artists. The portrait triptych of Lucian by Francis was sold £ 23M by Sotheby's on February 10, 2011.
1982 Warrior by Basquiat
2013 SOLD for $ 29M by Christie's
As soon as he was invited to work in Annina Nosei's basement in 1981, Jean-Michel Basquiat gathered the elements of his personal mythology. An acrylic, oilstick and spray enamel on canvas 173 x 262 cm is typical. The character is an African warrior in the rough who wields a huge sword and a handful of radiant arrows or lightnings. This artwork was sold for $ 35M by Christie's in 2014.
On November 12, 2013, Christie's sold as lot 15 a simplified version of this image for $ 29M. Just as deliciously terrifying, this 183 x 122 cm acrylic and oilstick on wood painted in 1982 for Annina Nosei brings a better readability of the character, almost life-size in a surrounding of more vivid colors.
The main biomorphic features are retained, such as the skull-shaped head and the opening of the torso to internal organs. He is a tribal leader or an African American champion, with boxer shorts and gigantic feet that provide stability and triumph. The three-pointed crown is larger and in a shining golden yellow. The blood-red eyes are replaced with a gold plating.
Unlike the example of the previous year, the character no longer needs tags to convey his message. The weapons are replaced by a gigantic golden femur brandished like a scepter by this king of high fantasy. He is both winner and victim, ridiculous and autobiographical, in line with Basquiat's scathing humor of the time.
On November 12, 2013, Christie's sold as lot 15 a simplified version of this image for $ 29M. Just as deliciously terrifying, this 183 x 122 cm acrylic and oilstick on wood painted in 1982 for Annina Nosei brings a better readability of the character, almost life-size in a surrounding of more vivid colors.
The main biomorphic features are retained, such as the skull-shaped head and the opening of the torso to internal organs. He is a tribal leader or an African American champion, with boxer shorts and gigantic feet that provide stability and triumph. The three-pointed crown is larger and in a shining golden yellow. The blood-red eyes are replaced with a gold plating.
Unlike the example of the previous year, the character no longer needs tags to convey his message. The weapons are replaced by a gigantic golden femur brandished like a scepter by this king of high fantasy. He is both winner and victim, ridiculous and autobiographical, in line with Basquiat's scathing humor of the time.
