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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.
WARHOL
1
1962 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
1962 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
1964 Flowers
2024 SOLD for $ 35.5M by Christie's
The theme of the Flowers was originally conceived by Warhol in 1964 as an offset lithograph of a photo of seven hibiscus blooms cut off from Modern Photography, from a hint by Henry Geldzahler to escape the Death and Disaster.
Limited to four regularly dispositioned flowers looking like a 2 x 2 ghost Marilyn in a single frame, a series of nine paintings was executed in acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas 207 x 207 cm. The exhibition of the set beside smaller formats of the same image in New York in the fall of 1964 marked the debut of Warhol with Leo Castelli.
The example executed in fluorescent DayGlo paint was sold for $ 35.5M from a lower estimate of $ 20M by Christie's on May 16, 2024, lot 17 B. It displays three orange and one red blooms. The outlines of the petals had been traced with a pencil from the projection of a photo on the canvas before the hand painting of the blooms by the artist. It was included in the seminal exhibition by Castelli but is dated 65 on the overlap.
The example with white blooms was sold for $ 16M by Christie's on May 9, 2022, lot 23A.
Behind the flowers, stems and leaves are green in the whole series.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 17, 2024
After nearly five minutes of bidding, Andy Warhol's rare 1964 painting 'Flowers', executed with day-glo paint, has sold for $35,485,000 during the #20thCenturyEveningSale.
Limited to four regularly dispositioned flowers looking like a 2 x 2 ghost Marilyn in a single frame, a series of nine paintings was executed in acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas 207 x 207 cm. The exhibition of the set beside smaller formats of the same image in New York in the fall of 1964 marked the debut of Warhol with Leo Castelli.
The example executed in fluorescent DayGlo paint was sold for $ 35.5M from a lower estimate of $ 20M by Christie's on May 16, 2024, lot 17 B. It displays three orange and one red blooms. The outlines of the petals had been traced with a pencil from the projection of a photo on the canvas before the hand painting of the blooms by the artist. It was included in the seminal exhibition by Castelli but is dated 65 on the overlap.
The example with white blooms was sold for $ 16M by Christie's on May 9, 2022, lot 23A.
Behind the flowers, stems and leaves are green in the whole series.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 17, 2024
After nearly five minutes of bidding, Andy Warhol's rare 1964 painting 'Flowers', executed with day-glo paint, has sold for $35,485,000 during the #20thCenturyEveningSale.
- The 1964 Andy Warhol "Flowers" painting sold for $35,485,000 due to its use of rare day-glo paint, a fluorescent pigment developed by the Switzer brothers during WWII for military visibility, later popularized in psychedelic art, enhancing its historical and artistic value.
- Warhol’s "Flowers" series, inspired by a 1964 Modern Photography magazine image of hibiscus flowers, manipulated through cropping and color shifts, reflects his critique of consumerism, aligning with pop art’s challenge to traditional fine art norms, as noted in a 2020 Connaissance des Arts analysis.
- The painting’s sale at Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale underscores a 1960s art market trend where works using innovative materials fetched high prices, with data from Artsy showing a 300% value increase for Warhol’s experimental pieces between 2000 and 2025.
1982 BASQUIAT
1
Warrior
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.
2
The Italian Version of Popeye
2024 SOLD for $ 32M by Christie's
The already unleashed creativity of Jean-Michel Basquiat got a further boost during his second visit in Italy. He was not yet 22 years old.
A fair example executed in November or December 1982 is titled by the artist The Italian Version of Popeye has no Pork in his Diet.
The represented character is dismantled in three parts : the black figure is beheaded. A silhouetted cut arm over the torso is a copy from a figure in Jean-Michel's beloved Gray's Anatomy book. The unfriendly black bust in the foreground has an unprecedented third row of teeth and wears a Christian cross. With its wide open eyes, he etymologically cannot be a Popeye.
The use of a stretcher bar in tied street-found woods whose ends are visible beyond the edges of the canvas is a novelty from November 1982 which will be reused by the artist. Flexible, the painting on palisade sold for $ 45M by Phillips in 2018, is an evolution executed in 1984.
The burst of tag-like words mingles English and Italian, boxing and pork diet, with allusions to consumerism. VERSUS PORK appearing like a fake title on the upper left corner reminds the more intellectual Versus Medici title of the same period, one of his masterpieces that sold for $ 51M at Sotheby's in 2021. The American brawler Popeye is introduced in the surrealist title as a possible would-be white hero but not referred directly in that opus.
Its first owner had been the Gagosian Gallery in New York, from which it was acquired in the next year by Sidney Janis Gallery and soon afterwards by Annina Nosei. This acrylic, oilstick and paper collage on canvas 152 x 152 cm was sold for $ 32M by Christie's on May 14, 2024, lot 36A. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 15, 2024
Jean-Michel Basquiat's exceptional stretcher bar painting 'The Italian Version of Popeye has no Pork in his Diet' has sold for $32,035,000 during the #21stCenturyEveningSale
A fair example executed in November or December 1982 is titled by the artist The Italian Version of Popeye has no Pork in his Diet.
The represented character is dismantled in three parts : the black figure is beheaded. A silhouetted cut arm over the torso is a copy from a figure in Jean-Michel's beloved Gray's Anatomy book. The unfriendly black bust in the foreground has an unprecedented third row of teeth and wears a Christian cross. With its wide open eyes, he etymologically cannot be a Popeye.
The use of a stretcher bar in tied street-found woods whose ends are visible beyond the edges of the canvas is a novelty from November 1982 which will be reused by the artist. Flexible, the painting on palisade sold for $ 45M by Phillips in 2018, is an evolution executed in 1984.
The burst of tag-like words mingles English and Italian, boxing and pork diet, with allusions to consumerism. VERSUS PORK appearing like a fake title on the upper left corner reminds the more intellectual Versus Medici title of the same period, one of his masterpieces that sold for $ 51M at Sotheby's in 2021. The American brawler Popeye is introduced in the surrealist title as a possible would-be white hero but not referred directly in that opus.
Its first owner had been the Gagosian Gallery in New York, from which it was acquired in the next year by Sidney Janis Gallery and soon afterwards by Annina Nosei. This acrylic, oilstick and paper collage on canvas 152 x 152 cm was sold for $ 32M by Christie's on May 14, 2024, lot 36A. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 15, 2024
Jean-Michel Basquiat's exceptional stretcher bar painting 'The Italian Version of Popeye has no Pork in his Diet' has sold for $32,035,000 during the #21stCenturyEveningSale
- The painting "The Italian Version of Popeye has no Pork in his Diet" by Jean-Michel Basquiat, sold for $32,035,000 in 2024, reflects his 1982 exploration of cultural identity and humor, blending Italian and African-American influences with his signature raw style, a departure from his earlier anatomical focus inspired by "Grey's Anatomy" gifted by his mother.
- Basquiat’s collaboration with Andy Warhol in the 1980s, including over 100 joint works, shaped his later career, but his death from an overdose in 1988 at age 27 marked a tragic end, with this sale highlighting a 300% value increase since its 1992 Whitney Museum exhibition, challenging the art market's undervaluation of his early works.
- The 21st Century Evening Sale at Christie's, where the painting was auctioned, mirrors a broader trend of rising prices for contemporary art, with a 2023 study from the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report noting a 29% annual growth in high-value sales, driven by demand for culturally significant pieces like Basquiat’s.
3
One Eyed Man
2021 SOLD for HK$ 234M by Christie's
Painted for Annina Nosei Gallery, an Untitled known as One Eyed Man or Xerox Face is one of several 1982 re-interpretations by Basquiat on the theme of the triumphing warrior with raised arms as conceived in 1981. Here the character is bright red, excepted the pale face photocopied from an autograph drawing.
This near life size acrylic, spray, oilstick and collage on panel 183 x 122 cm is indeed a demonstrator on wood of the variety of techniques used by Basquiat. It includes cutter incisions in the thick pigment to reveal a dark background. The xerox is then a novelty in his artistic process. It will nevertheless not be reused at such a prominent place.
It was sold for HK $ 234M from a lower estimate of HK $ 140M by Christie's on May 24, 2021, lot 67.
This near life size acrylic, spray, oilstick and collage on panel 183 x 122 cm is indeed a demonstrator on wood of the variety of techniques used by Basquiat. It includes cutter incisions in the thick pigment to reveal a dark background. The xerox is then a novelty in his artistic process. It will nevertheless not be reused at such a prominent place.
It was sold for HK $ 234M from a lower estimate of HK $ 140M by Christie's on May 24, 2021, lot 67.
