The Woman
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Top 10 Sculpture Nude Tabletop Animals Bird Flowers Orientalism Italy Modigliani Giacometti Femme debout Giacometti 1947-54 France Seurat Klimt Picasso Marie-Thérèse USA Warhol Celebrities by Warhol
Chronology : 19th century 1880-1889 1888 20th century 1910-1919 1917 1918 1930-1939 1932 1950-1959 1952 1960-1969 1964
See also : Top 10 Sculpture Nude Tabletop Animals Bird Flowers Orientalism Italy Modigliani Giacometti Femme debout Giacometti 1947-54 France Seurat Klimt Picasso Marie-Thérèse USA Warhol Celebrities by Warhol
Chronology : 19th century 1880-1889 1888 20th century 1910-1919 1917 1918 1930-1939 1932 1950-1959 1952 1960-1969 1964
masterpiece
1345 BCE Nefertiti Bust
Neues Museum Berlin
The heretic king Akhenaten had replaced the worship of Amen by that of the solar circle Aten, certainly for political reasons. He thus escaped the hold by the Theban priests. He had established his capital in the middle of the desert, on a site whose Arab name will be Amarna. This religious revolution was accompanied by an artistic breakthrough. Amarnian artists have for the first time sought a naturalistic representation. Nefertiti was a wife of Akhenaten.
Discovered in 1912.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Response by Grok :
Quote :
Ancient Egypt @Ancient_Egypt_X Aug 18
Bust of queen Nefertiti in the Neues Museum, Berlin #ancientegypt
Discovered in 1912.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Response by Grok :
Quote :
Ancient Egypt @Ancient_Egypt_X Aug 18
Bust of queen Nefertiti in the Neues Museum, Berlin #ancientegypt
- The bust of Nefertiti, showcased in the Neues Museum in Berlin, was discovered in 1912 by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt in Amarna, Egypt, and its striking preservation suggests it may have been a sculptor’s model rather than a finished public piece, challenging the narrative of it being a royal portrait.
- Recent studies, including pigment analysis from the 1920s by Borchardt and modern non-invasive techniques, confirm the use of authentic ancient materials like copper-based blue frit and iron oxide, countering claims of it being a fake, though debates persist due to the missing left eye and its idealized features.
- The artifact’s location in Berlin fuels an ongoing repatriation debate, with Egypt arguing it was illegally exported, supported by a 2016 study from the University of Tübingen highlighting unequal colonial-era excavation agreements, yet Germany maintains it was legally acquired under 1913 permits.
masterpiece
> 1503 La Gioconda by Leonardo da Vinci
Louvre
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Musée du Louvre @MuseeLouvre Dec 8, 2016
[#1M] #WorkOfTheDay Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, Leonardo da Vinci #Joconde #MonaLisa http://bit.ly/2gK6qA2 #Paintings
Response by Grok :
Quote
Musée du Louvre @MuseeLouvre Dec 8, 2016
[#1M] #WorkOfTheDay Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, Leonardo da Vinci #Joconde #MonaLisa http://bit.ly/2gK6qA2 #Paintings
- The Mona Lisa, featured in the post, was painted by Leonardo da Vinci between 1503 and 1506, with possible work extending to 1517, and its subject's identity as Lisa Gherardini was confirmed in 2005 through archival research, challenging earlier speculative theories about multiple models.
- The painting's enigmatic smile may reflect Leonardo's technique of using live musicians and entertainers during sittings to keep Gherardini amused, a method noted by art historian Giorgio Vasari, supported by 2004 spectrographic analysis showing emotional expression in her facial features.
- Housed in the Louvre's Salle des États since 1966, the artwork's poplar wood panel has warped over time, leading to a protective glass case installation in 2005 to control temperature and humidity, a conservation measure backed by studies on wood degradation in Renaissance art.
masterpiece
1538 Venus of Urbino by Titian
Uffizi
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Asking Grok 4 to define the influence of Giorgione to this masterpiece :
Giorgione's Sleeping Venus (c. 1510) exerted a profound and direct influence on Titian's Venus of Urbino (1538), serving as a foundational prototype for the reclining female nude in Venetian Renaissance art. After Giorgione's untimely death, Titian—his close collaborator and successor in the Venetian school—completed the landscape background of Sleeping Venus, which immersed him deeply in its composition and themes. This hands-on involvement inspired Titian to adapt the motif for his own work, transforming Giorgione's serene, mythological outdoor nude into a more intimate, domestic scene where Venus is awake and gazing directly at the viewer.
The core similarities lie in the reclining pose, the idealized female form, and the sensual yet elegant depiction of nudity, which Giorgione pioneered by blending classical mythology with naturalistic landscapes. Titian retained the languid, diagonal composition and soft modeling of the body but shifted the setting indoors, adding elements like a dog (symbolizing fidelity) and servants in the background to evoke themes of marriage and domesticity, possibly as a wedding gift. This evolution marked a refinement of Giorgione's poetic, dreamlike quality into a bolder, more engaging eroticism, influencing subsequent artists like Manet and solidifying the reclining nude as a enduring genre in Western art.
Asking Grok 4 to define the influence of Giorgione to this masterpiece :
Giorgione's Sleeping Venus (c. 1510) exerted a profound and direct influence on Titian's Venus of Urbino (1538), serving as a foundational prototype for the reclining female nude in Venetian Renaissance art. After Giorgione's untimely death, Titian—his close collaborator and successor in the Venetian school—completed the landscape background of Sleeping Venus, which immersed him deeply in its composition and themes. This hands-on involvement inspired Titian to adapt the motif for his own work, transforming Giorgione's serene, mythological outdoor nude into a more intimate, domestic scene where Venus is awake and gazing directly at the viewer.
The core similarities lie in the reclining pose, the idealized female form, and the sensual yet elegant depiction of nudity, which Giorgione pioneered by blending classical mythology with naturalistic landscapes. Titian retained the languid, diagonal composition and soft modeling of the body but shifted the setting indoors, adding elements like a dog (symbolizing fidelity) and servants in the background to evoke themes of marriage and domesticity, possibly as a wedding gift. This evolution marked a refinement of Giorgione's poetic, dreamlike quality into a bolder, more engaging eroticism, influencing subsequent artists like Manet and solidifying the reclining nude as a enduring genre in Western art.
1888 Les Poseuses by Seurat
2022 SOLD for $ 150M by Christie's
Georges Seurat managed his career as a continuous series of breakthroughs. A few large scale masterpieces preceded by many studies in paintings and drawings were viewed by him as a fight against the establishment. He dubbed them his "toiles de lutte".
His first masterpiece is Une baignade à Asnières, oil on canvas 200 x 300 cm, exhibited in 1884 at the first Salon des Indépendants. The 24 year old artist revealed his indirect approach of color inspired by the theories of vision forwarded by Chevreul. The colors of Une baignade reach a softness by other methods than the impressionniste brushstroke or the pastel. The new art is named post-impressionnisme by Fénéon in 1886.
The second masterpiece, Un dimanche d'été à l'île de la Grande Jatte, of similar size, is exhibited in 1886 at the eight and final Exposition des Impressionnistes where it generates a discord between the historical impressionists supported by Degas and the post impressionists supported by Pissarro. Impressionnisme as a group was dead.
La Grande Jatte reuses the pointillism but in dull colors. Seurat had preferred composing a complex anti-bourgeois narration including humor and symbols. The work was too advanced when Seurat influenced by Signac appreciated that its cold colors were a mistake.
Galvanized by this legitimate misunderstanding of the public, Seurat started a new project in bright pointillist colors, Les Poseuses. This time the anti-bourgeois mood is replaced by subtle references to art history including himself.
The scene is staged in Seurat's studio. The left wall is covered by a truncated and slightly modified version of La Grande Jatte. The three drawings hanging on the back wall are a reference to Seurat's painstaking creative process.
Les poseuses are three positions of a model in full nudity, reminding the Three Graces. The standing figure in the center is a Venus pudica. The two side figures are seated, one from the back like Ingres's Grande baigneuse while the other in profile removes a stocking in the attitude of the Spinario.
The 200 x 250 cm canvas was exhibited in spring 1888 at the Salon des Indépendants. This painting also broke a taboo by revealing that women in painting were indeed staged by professional models.
Les Poseuses, Ensemble (petite version) was painted in 1888, arguably as a replica. Its small size, 39 x 50 cm, enabled larger dots for a vibrant color rendering. Being beside Cézanne's Montagne Sainte-Victoire a cornerstone of the Paul G. Allen collection, this oil on canvas was sold for $ 150M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 8. Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft, had been appealed by pointillism as a precursor to digital imagery. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Response by Grok :
His first masterpiece is Une baignade à Asnières, oil on canvas 200 x 300 cm, exhibited in 1884 at the first Salon des Indépendants. The 24 year old artist revealed his indirect approach of color inspired by the theories of vision forwarded by Chevreul. The colors of Une baignade reach a softness by other methods than the impressionniste brushstroke or the pastel. The new art is named post-impressionnisme by Fénéon in 1886.
The second masterpiece, Un dimanche d'été à l'île de la Grande Jatte, of similar size, is exhibited in 1886 at the eight and final Exposition des Impressionnistes where it generates a discord between the historical impressionists supported by Degas and the post impressionists supported by Pissarro. Impressionnisme as a group was dead.
La Grande Jatte reuses the pointillism but in dull colors. Seurat had preferred composing a complex anti-bourgeois narration including humor and symbols. The work was too advanced when Seurat influenced by Signac appreciated that its cold colors were a mistake.
Galvanized by this legitimate misunderstanding of the public, Seurat started a new project in bright pointillist colors, Les Poseuses. This time the anti-bourgeois mood is replaced by subtle references to art history including himself.
The scene is staged in Seurat's studio. The left wall is covered by a truncated and slightly modified version of La Grande Jatte. The three drawings hanging on the back wall are a reference to Seurat's painstaking creative process.
Les poseuses are three positions of a model in full nudity, reminding the Three Graces. The standing figure in the center is a Venus pudica. The two side figures are seated, one from the back like Ingres's Grande baigneuse while the other in profile removes a stocking in the attitude of the Spinario.
The 200 x 250 cm canvas was exhibited in spring 1888 at the Salon des Indépendants. This painting also broke a taboo by revealing that women in painting were indeed staged by professional models.
Les Poseuses, Ensemble (petite version) was painted in 1888, arguably as a replica. Its small size, 39 x 50 cm, enabled larger dots for a vibrant color rendering. Being beside Cézanne's Montagne Sainte-Victoire a cornerstone of the Paul G. Allen collection, this oil on canvas was sold for $ 150M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 8. Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft, had been appealed by pointillism as a precursor to digital imagery. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Response by Grok :
- The painting "Les Poseuses" by Georges Seurat, sold for $150 million at Christie's in 2022, showcases his Pointillism technique, a method validated by 19th-century optical studies showing how small dots of color blend in the eye, challenging the coldness critics attributed to his style.
- This sale marks a rare instance of a Seurat work entering the top 10 most expensive paintings, a shift from the historical dominance of Old Masters, with only nine pre-1875 works among the top 89, reflecting a 2020s surge in demand for modern art per Christie's auction data.
- Seurat’s addition of a painted border to "Les Poseuses" in 1889, using complementary colors, aligns with color theory research by Chevreul, enhancing its visual impact and contributing to its high valuation despite its controversial reception in 1888.
KLIMT
1
masterpiece
1907 Adele Bloch-Bauer
Neue Galerie, New York
In 1899 Adele Bauer, 18, marries Ferdinand Bloch, 35. Ferdinand is a wealthy sugar industrialist. Well introduced in the Viennese society, Adele likes to bring together writers, politicians and intellectuals in her salon.
At this time Gustav Klimt is introducing an unprecedented luxury into modern painting. Inspired by the mosaic of Empress Theodora in the Basilica of Ravenna, he offers a new vision of the ideal woman, sumptuously dressed in a patchwork of gold, silver and sometimes platinum leaves.
Adele serves as a model in 1901 for Judith, which is a pinnacle of eroticism in Klimt's art. The husband is not jealous. In 1903 he begins to buy paintings from Klimt and commissions a portrait of his wife.
Klimt works for four years on this picture decorated with gold and silver. In his sublime style, the figuration does not reveal any nudity and the Bloch-Bauers can hang this painting 138 x 138 cm in their living room. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The Bloch-Bauer collection, also including three landscapes by Klimt, was plundered by the Nazis after the Anschluss. It was returned after a long trial in 2004 to the legitimate heiress, who dispersed it with the help of Christie's.
Klimt's relation with the Bloch-Bauers remained excellent. Adele will be the only woman of whom Klimt has painted two portraits. The Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II, which joins the previous opus in 1912 in the Bloch-Bauer living room, is an oil on canvas 190 x 120 cm. The standing Adele is dressed in gray and white in front of a richly colored background. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II was sold for $ 88M by Christie's on November 8, 2006. The lot escaped Lauder. It will be known later that it had been bought by Oprah Winfrey. It reached a new peak in 2016 when Oprah sold it in a private sale for $ 150M to a Chinese collector.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Culture Explorer @CultureExploreX Nov 30, 2024
Replying to @CultureExploreX
10. Portrait Of Adele Bloch Bauer I (1907) by Gustav Klimt at Neue Galerie, New York
At this time Gustav Klimt is introducing an unprecedented luxury into modern painting. Inspired by the mosaic of Empress Theodora in the Basilica of Ravenna, he offers a new vision of the ideal woman, sumptuously dressed in a patchwork of gold, silver and sometimes platinum leaves.
Adele serves as a model in 1901 for Judith, which is a pinnacle of eroticism in Klimt's art. The husband is not jealous. In 1903 he begins to buy paintings from Klimt and commissions a portrait of his wife.
Klimt works for four years on this picture decorated with gold and silver. In his sublime style, the figuration does not reveal any nudity and the Bloch-Bauers can hang this painting 138 x 138 cm in their living room. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The Bloch-Bauer collection, also including three landscapes by Klimt, was plundered by the Nazis after the Anschluss. It was returned after a long trial in 2004 to the legitimate heiress, who dispersed it with the help of Christie's.
Klimt's relation with the Bloch-Bauers remained excellent. Adele will be the only woman of whom Klimt has painted two portraits. The Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II, which joins the previous opus in 1912 in the Bloch-Bauer living room, is an oil on canvas 190 x 120 cm. The standing Adele is dressed in gray and white in front of a richly colored background. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II was sold for $ 88M by Christie's on November 8, 2006. The lot escaped Lauder. It will be known later that it had been bought by Oprah Winfrey. It reached a new peak in 2016 when Oprah sold it in a private sale for $ 150M to a Chinese collector.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Culture Explorer @CultureExploreX Nov 30, 2024
Replying to @CultureExploreX
10. Portrait Of Adele Bloch Bauer I (1907) by Gustav Klimt at Neue Galerie, New York
- The "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I" by Gustav Klimt, featured in the post, was looted by the Nazis in 1941 and only returned to the Bloch-Bauer family in 2006 after a legal battle, highlighting the art world's complex restitution efforts post-WWII.
- Klimt's use of gold leaf in this 1907 painting reflects his Art Nouveau style and was inspired by Byzantine mosaics, a technique later validated by art historians as enhancing the work's emotional depth through studies of color psychology.
- The painting's $135 million sale in 2006 to Ronald Lauder for the Neue Galerie set a record for an artwork at the time, sparking debates on the ethics of art ownership and the valuation of cultural heritage.
2
1914-1916 Elisabeth Lederer
2025 SOLD for $ 236M by Sotheby's
Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer, oil on canvas 180 x 130 cm executed by Klimt in 1914-1916, was sold for $ 236M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2025, lot 8.
Elisabeth is dressed in a Qing inspired dragon robe with an elegant floral wrap encircling her bodice.
Asking Grok to compare Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer with his Adele Bloch-Bauer II of 1912, sold by Christie's on November 8, 2006.
Grok thought :
Historical Context and CreationBoth paintings are late works by Gustav Klimt, created during his mature period when he focused on portraits of affluent Viennese women from Jewish bourgeois families who were key patrons of his art. Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (full title: Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer) was executed between 1914 and 1916, commissioned by the sitter's mother, Serena Lederer, a longtime Klimt supporter. In contrast, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II was painted in 1912, as the second full-length portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, a Vienna socialite and close friend of the artist—making her the only subject Klimt depicted twice in this format (the first being the more famous Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I from 1907). These works reflect Klimt's shift from his "golden style" (heavy use of gold leaf in earlier pieces like Adele I) toward more exotic, colorful, and ornamental approaches influenced by Asian art and textiles.
Subjects
The paintings portray young women from prominent Viennese families, emphasizing their elegance and social status:
Artistic Style and Composition
Klimt's portraits from this era follow a standardized approach: realistic rendering of the face and hands for individuality, paired with freer, abstract treatments of clothing and backgrounds drawing from Impressionism, Symbolism, and Fauvism. Both are full-length standing figures, but they differ in execution and finish.
The paintings share thematic elevation through ornamentation—gold and geometry in Adele II (linking to earlier works), versus exotic foreignness in Elisabeth Lederer—highlighting Klimt's evolution in portraying women as both modern and mythical.
Aspect comparison :
Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16)
Oil on canvas; 180.4 × 130.5 cm (71 × 51 ⅜ in)
Full-length standing pose against a foreign, exotic backdrop with small distant figures. Features a downward-tapering hobble skirt, transparent chiffon stole, and an undefined triangle of bright ornaments like a "magic cape." The lower section (legs and shoes) remains unfinished, with visible charcoal underdrawing.
Violet background with dense ornamental fields of flowers in the upper half and bright color accents (e.g., orange side table). Exotic elements elevate the figure, echoing Asian scroll paintings and opulent textiles.
Heavy Asian art influence; reworked over years with documented changes (e.g., via infrared photos). Captures "formal unrest" and protective ornamentation.
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912)
Oil on canvas; 190 × 120 cm (75 × 47 in)
Full-length standing pose, with the subject dominating the canvas. Less emphasis on gold than its predecessor (Adele I), focusing instead on integrated patterns and a large color field in the background.
Prominent use of large color fields (e.g., bright orange) and geometric/ornamental patterns, marking a shift toward exoticism similar to Elisabeth Lederer. The patterns contribute to the subject's "auratic" quality without relying on gold.
Builds on Adele I's style but with more emphasis on color and pattern integration; first prominent use of large background color fields, a technique echoed in Elisabeth Lederer.
Market Value and Sales for Elisabeth Lederer:
One of only two full-length Klimt portraits in private hands; offered at Sotheby's New York on November 18, 2025, as the centerpiece of the Leonard A. Lauder collection sale. Estimate upon request, but projected around $150 million, potentially setting records.
These sales highlight the escalating value of Klimt's portraits, with Elisabeth Lederer's upcoming auction potentially rivaling or exceeding Adele II's figures due to market growth and rarity.
Pre sale Grok thought :
Quote
Artnet @artnet Sep 20
#ArtnetNews: The most anticipated auction trophy of the fall season is undoubtedly Gustav Klimt’s (1862–1918) Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16), which is expected to bring as much as $150 million when it hits the block at Sotheby’s New York. Read more:
Elisabeth is dressed in a Qing inspired dragon robe with an elegant floral wrap encircling her bodice.
Asking Grok to compare Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer with his Adele Bloch-Bauer II of 1912, sold by Christie's on November 8, 2006.
Grok thought :
Historical Context and CreationBoth paintings are late works by Gustav Klimt, created during his mature period when he focused on portraits of affluent Viennese women from Jewish bourgeois families who were key patrons of his art. Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (full title: Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer) was executed between 1914 and 1916, commissioned by the sitter's mother, Serena Lederer, a longtime Klimt supporter. In contrast, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II was painted in 1912, as the second full-length portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, a Vienna socialite and close friend of the artist—making her the only subject Klimt depicted twice in this format (the first being the more famous Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I from 1907). These works reflect Klimt's shift from his "golden style" (heavy use of gold leaf in earlier pieces like Adele I) toward more exotic, colorful, and ornamental approaches influenced by Asian art and textiles.
Subjects
The paintings portray young women from prominent Viennese families, emphasizing their elegance and social status:
- Elisabeth Lederer: Depicts Elisabeth Franziska Lederer (born 1894, later Baroness Elisabeth Bachofen-Echt after her 1921 marriage), daughter of Serena and August Lederer. She is shown as a poised young woman in her early 20s, with artistic training in sculpture. The portrait captures her in a moment of beauty and power, reflecting her family's close ties to Klimt (she called him "uncle").
- Adele Bloch-Bauer: Features Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881–1925), wife of industrialist Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer and a salon hostess who supported modernist artists. As a repeat subject, the portrait underscores her intimate connection to Klimt, portraying her as a symbol of Viennese sophistication.
Artistic Style and Composition
Klimt's portraits from this era follow a standardized approach: realistic rendering of the face and hands for individuality, paired with freer, abstract treatments of clothing and backgrounds drawing from Impressionism, Symbolism, and Fauvism. Both are full-length standing figures, but they differ in execution and finish.
The paintings share thematic elevation through ornamentation—gold and geometry in Adele II (linking to earlier works), versus exotic foreignness in Elisabeth Lederer—highlighting Klimt's evolution in portraying women as both modern and mythical.
Aspect comparison :
Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16)
Oil on canvas; 180.4 × 130.5 cm (71 × 51 ⅜ in)
Full-length standing pose against a foreign, exotic backdrop with small distant figures. Features a downward-tapering hobble skirt, transparent chiffon stole, and an undefined triangle of bright ornaments like a "magic cape." The lower section (legs and shoes) remains unfinished, with visible charcoal underdrawing.
Violet background with dense ornamental fields of flowers in the upper half and bright color accents (e.g., orange side table). Exotic elements elevate the figure, echoing Asian scroll paintings and opulent textiles.
Heavy Asian art influence; reworked over years with documented changes (e.g., via infrared photos). Captures "formal unrest" and protective ornamentation.
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912)
Oil on canvas; 190 × 120 cm (75 × 47 in)
Full-length standing pose, with the subject dominating the canvas. Less emphasis on gold than its predecessor (Adele I), focusing instead on integrated patterns and a large color field in the background.
Prominent use of large color fields (e.g., bright orange) and geometric/ornamental patterns, marking a shift toward exoticism similar to Elisabeth Lederer. The patterns contribute to the subject's "auratic" quality without relying on gold.
Builds on Adele I's style but with more emphasis on color and pattern integration; first prominent use of large background color fields, a technique echoed in Elisabeth Lederer.
Market Value and Sales for Elisabeth Lederer:
One of only two full-length Klimt portraits in private hands; offered at Sotheby's New York on November 18, 2025, as the centerpiece of the Leonard A. Lauder collection sale. Estimate upon request, but projected around $150 million, potentially setting records.
These sales highlight the escalating value of Klimt's portraits, with Elisabeth Lederer's upcoming auction potentially rivaling or exceeding Adele II's figures due to market growth and rarity.
Pre sale Grok thought :
Quote
Artnet @artnet Sep 20
#ArtnetNews: The most anticipated auction trophy of the fall season is undoubtedly Gustav Klimt’s (1862–1918) Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16), which is expected to bring as much as $150 million when it hits the block at Sotheby’s New York. Read more:
- Artnet highlights Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16) as the fall season's top auction lot, estimating up to $150 million at Sotheby's New York on November 18, 2025, potentially shattering the artist's $108 million record from 2023.
- The painting depicts 20-year-old Elisabeth Lederer amid stylized Chinese-inspired figures ; it was commissioned by her wealthy Jewish parents, who built a major Klimt collection.
- Provenance includes Nazi confiscation in 1940, partial destruction in a 1945 fire, and postwar restitution efforts; after resurfacing, it entered collector Leonard Lauder's holdings until his 2024 death, adding layers of historical drama to its sale.
Sotheby’s to offer major Klimt portrait as $400m Leonard Lauder collection comes to auction:https://t.co/n4Vm3zU1PE pic.twitter.com/Y4nDOY7ceB
— AntiquesTradeGazette (@ATG_Editorial) September 17, 2025
3
1918 Dame mit Fächer
2023 SOLD for £ 85M by Sotheby's
The lifelong artistic quest of Gustav Klimt was the representation of the ideal woman, in conjunction with his project to revolutionize clothing and fabrics in partnership with his life companion the fashion designer Emilie Flöge.
The artist suddenly died on February 6, 1918 of a stroke and pneumonia brought by the Spanish flu, aged 55. Entering his studio, his friends found a masterpiece, just finished and still on the easel, his ultimate iteration of his preferred theme.
The lady with the fan is a beautiful woman in three quarter length with a sharply painted head in a richly decorated surrounding. Such a style follows early masterpieces such as Adele Bloch-Bauer I and The Kiss of 1907-1908, excepted that the application of the golden leaf is now superseded by motifs of the brightest colors : turquoise, yellow, pink, purple, orange.
The composition is now resolutely Orientalist, inspired by the Japanese prints and Asian robes which Klimt and Flöge eagerly collected. The new Austrian geisha wears a kimono that widely unveils the bare shoulder. The fan covers the breast. The yellow background is covered by a pattern of lotus blossoms of various shapes and colors plus a pheasant, a crane and a Chinese phoenix in flight, emblems of good fortune.
The woman is straight and confident, with a distant gaze ignoring the background and a small smile. She is charming with her curling hair around the ear. She is not identified : certainly not coming from the bourgeoisie of Vienna with her risqué kimono, this beauty was probably a professional model or a fashion mannequin.
This Dame mit Fächer, oil on canvas in the squared format 100 x 100 cm favored by the artist, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 11.6M (before fees ?) on May 11, 1994, lot 44, and for £ 85M on June 27, 2023, lot 125. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Jun 27, 2023
#AuctionUpdate Gustav Klimt’s last great masterpiece ‘Dame mit Fächer’ (1917-18) soars to $108.4m / £85.3m at #SothebysLondon, setting a new auction record for the most valuable painting ever sold at auction in Europe. #SothebysModern
The artist suddenly died on February 6, 1918 of a stroke and pneumonia brought by the Spanish flu, aged 55. Entering his studio, his friends found a masterpiece, just finished and still on the easel, his ultimate iteration of his preferred theme.
The lady with the fan is a beautiful woman in three quarter length with a sharply painted head in a richly decorated surrounding. Such a style follows early masterpieces such as Adele Bloch-Bauer I and The Kiss of 1907-1908, excepted that the application of the golden leaf is now superseded by motifs of the brightest colors : turquoise, yellow, pink, purple, orange.
The composition is now resolutely Orientalist, inspired by the Japanese prints and Asian robes which Klimt and Flöge eagerly collected. The new Austrian geisha wears a kimono that widely unveils the bare shoulder. The fan covers the breast. The yellow background is covered by a pattern of lotus blossoms of various shapes and colors plus a pheasant, a crane and a Chinese phoenix in flight, emblems of good fortune.
The woman is straight and confident, with a distant gaze ignoring the background and a small smile. She is charming with her curling hair around the ear. She is not identified : certainly not coming from the bourgeoisie of Vienna with her risqué kimono, this beauty was probably a professional model or a fashion mannequin.
This Dame mit Fächer, oil on canvas in the squared format 100 x 100 cm favored by the artist, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 11.6M (before fees ?) on May 11, 1994, lot 44, and for £ 85M on June 27, 2023, lot 125. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Jun 27, 2023
#AuctionUpdate Gustav Klimt’s last great masterpiece ‘Dame mit Fächer’ (1917-18) soars to $108.4m / £85.3m at #SothebysLondon, setting a new auction record for the most valuable painting ever sold at auction in Europe. #SothebysModern
- The painting "Dame mit Fächer" (Lady with a Fan) by Gustav Klimt, sold for $108.4 million at Sotheby’s London in 2023, reflects his late fascination with East Asian art, notably Japanese ukiyo-e prints, which influenced its vibrant patterns and composition, as evidenced by the Belvedere’s 2025 exhibition tracing these cultural exchanges.
- This sale set a European auction record, highlighting a surge in demand for Klimt’s works, with Artnet data showing his pieces averaging a 15% annual value increase since 2010.
- Created in 1917-1918, the artwork was one of Klimt’s final pieces before his death, photographed unfinished in his studio alongside "The Bride," offering a rare glimpse into his evolving style amid Vienna’s post-WWI cultural upheaval.
MODIGLIANI
Intro
Amedeo Modigliani stopped practicing sculpture around 1914. He paints portraits of Montparnasse artists with their heads deformed by cubism. In 1916 Zborowski takes Amedeo's career in his hands, adding his many friends to the list of models.
Modigliani was a prolific draftsman. He had learned during his artistic training to draw quickly. Close to the conceptions of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière where he will soon meet Jeanne, he knows how to carry out speedy studies of female nudes in poses where the natural prevails over the conventional.
Zbo organizes paintings of nudes by Modi. He chooses pretty women whom he leads into an apartment-workshop where he has installed Modigliani. The artist is paid 15 francs a day and the model 5 francs for the session.
The rest is easy to imagine. The woman has won her 5 francs and is in a hurry to leave. The artist has little time. His painting is based on a drawing that brings to his best images a great spontaneity. The bare skin partitioned by the lines is painted in a warm color. The woman is lying or sitting on the bed, very simply, without decoration and without narrative effect.
Modigliani was a prolific draftsman. He had learned during his artistic training to draw quickly. Close to the conceptions of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière where he will soon meet Jeanne, he knows how to carry out speedy studies of female nudes in poses where the natural prevails over the conventional.
Zbo organizes paintings of nudes by Modi. He chooses pretty women whom he leads into an apartment-workshop where he has installed Modigliani. The artist is paid 15 francs a day and the model 5 francs for the session.
The rest is easy to imagine. The woman has won her 5 francs and is in a hurry to leave. The artist has little time. His painting is based on a drawing that brings to his best images a great spontaneity. The bare skin partitioned by the lines is painted in a warm color. The woman is lying or sitting on the bed, very simply, without decoration and without narrative effect.
1
1917 Nu couché sur le côté
2018 SOLD for $ 157M by Sotheby's
Nu couché sur le côté, oil on canvas 90 x 147 cm painted in 1917, was sold for $ 27M by Christie's on November 4, 2003 and for $ 157M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2018, lot 18. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
It is the largest painting in this series and the only reclining nude by Modigliani to be displayed in all the extent of her arms and legs.
The attitude is not very erotic. The woman is seen from behind. The head turned for looking at the artist and the firmly sealed mouth reveal some impatience.
Responses by Grok :
Amedeo Modigliani's 1917 painting Nu couché (sur le côté gauche)—a reclining nude measuring approximately 35 by 58 inches—sold for $157.2 million at Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York on May 14, 2018. This set a record as the highest auction price ever achieved at Sotheby's up to that point. It was the largest work in Modigliani's oeuvre and part of his celebrated series of nudes, with the final price including the buyer's premium (estimated at $150 million before the sale). The painting depicts a woman reclining on her left side against a red couch with a dark blue backdrop, showcasing Modigliani's signature elongated forms and sensual style.
It is the largest painting in this series and the only reclining nude by Modigliani to be displayed in all the extent of her arms and legs.
The attitude is not very erotic. The woman is seen from behind. The head turned for looking at the artist and the firmly sealed mouth reveal some impatience.
Responses by Grok :
Amedeo Modigliani's 1917 painting Nu couché (sur le côté gauche)—a reclining nude measuring approximately 35 by 58 inches—sold for $157.2 million at Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York on May 14, 2018. This set a record as the highest auction price ever achieved at Sotheby's up to that point. It was the largest work in Modigliani's oeuvre and part of his celebrated series of nudes, with the final price including the buyer's premium (estimated at $150 million before the sale). The painting depicts a woman reclining on her left side against a red couch with a dark blue backdrop, showcasing Modigliani's signature elongated forms and sensual style.
- The 1917 painting "Nu couché sur le côté" by Amedeo Modigliani, sold for $157 million at Sotheby’s in 2018, reflects a surge in demand for modernist art, with its 2015 sale at Christie’s for $170 million to a Chinese buyer highlighting how global wealth shifts influence art prices.
- Modigliani’s 1917 nude series, including this work, faced censorship during its debut exhibition at Galerie Berthe Weill, shut down by police, yet its bold reinvention of the nude genre—tracing back to Titian’s influence—has been validated by art critics like Jonathan Jones as a cornerstone of modernist art.
- Data from the 2025 Artsy Art Market Trends report shows young collectors now drive a 20% increase in online art sales, suggesting "Nu couché"’s high value may also reflect its accessibility and reproduction, amplifying its cultural impact beyond traditional auction metrics.
2
1917-1918 Nudo Rosso
2015 SOLD for $ 170M by Christie's
The still young artist endeavors to show the perfect woman while going beyond his own life plagued by tuberculosis and alcohol. Around 1911, the heads carved by Modigliani transcend all artistic styles.
In 1917, he found that ideal in the nude. He has no money but that does not mind. His small workshop contains two chairs, a sofa and a bottle of cognac. He is alone with a girl paid by his dealer. Zborowski had a good perception : the girls are pretty. Around them is war. The time is not conducive to shameless exhibits. Modigliani's nudes are a scandal.
Amedeo is a nice guy. He establishes empathy with those anonymous visitors for a day. He expresses tenderness and intimacy better than any other artist. He obtained this effect by a subtle color work. Pink is not warm enough to express the skin: the artist creates rich colors tending to reddish or apricot.
On November 9, 2015, Christie's sold for $ 170M from an estimate over $ 100M an oil on canvas 60 x 92 cm painted in 1917 or 1918, lot 8A. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. This Nudo Rosso looks to be a later example in that 1917-1918 series by its softer line, an even warmer color and also a friendly attitude of this model who exhibits all her charms in full front.
The voluptuous curves emphasizes the confidence of the model with her back slightly arched above the couch and her outstretched arms. Eyes without pupils are monochrome, enabling the viewer to better capture the quiet waiting of her gaze. The wild locks on the forehead indicate that this ideal woman is a character from real life and not a model prepared for art.
Response by Grok :
In 1917, he found that ideal in the nude. He has no money but that does not mind. His small workshop contains two chairs, a sofa and a bottle of cognac. He is alone with a girl paid by his dealer. Zborowski had a good perception : the girls are pretty. Around them is war. The time is not conducive to shameless exhibits. Modigliani's nudes are a scandal.
Amedeo is a nice guy. He establishes empathy with those anonymous visitors for a day. He expresses tenderness and intimacy better than any other artist. He obtained this effect by a subtle color work. Pink is not warm enough to express the skin: the artist creates rich colors tending to reddish or apricot.
On November 9, 2015, Christie's sold for $ 170M from an estimate over $ 100M an oil on canvas 60 x 92 cm painted in 1917 or 1918, lot 8A. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. This Nudo Rosso looks to be a later example in that 1917-1918 series by its softer line, an even warmer color and also a friendly attitude of this model who exhibits all her charms in full front.
The voluptuous curves emphasizes the confidence of the model with her back slightly arched above the couch and her outstretched arms. Eyes without pupils are monochrome, enabling the viewer to better capture the quiet waiting of her gaze. The wild locks on the forehead indicate that this ideal woman is a character from real life and not a model prepared for art.
Response by Grok :
- The painting "Nudo Rosso" (Red Nude) by Amedeo Modigliani, sold for $170 million at Christie's in 2015, reflects a dramatic rise in art values, outpacing inflation-adjusted records like Van Gogh's $87.9 million (2024 currency) sale in 1987, signaling a shift toward modern art dominating auctions.
- Its 1917-18 creation sparked controversy when first exhibited in Paris, leading to its removal for offending public decency, a reaction tied to Modigliani's bold stylistic choices, which studies (e.g., Art History Journal, 2019) link to his innovative use of curved lines to challenge traditional anatomy.
- The sale price, topping Modigliani's previous $70.7 million record from 2014, underscores a market trend where single artworks increasingly rival national GDP contributions, with global art auction sales reaching $17.3 billion in 2024 (TEFAF Art Market Report), highlighting art's role as a speculative asset.
3
Special Report
1917 Paris Show
Amedeo Modigliani's 1917 Paris exhibition was his only solo show during his lifetime—and one of the most infamous episodes in early 20th-century art history. Organized by his dealer Léopold Zborowski and held at the progressive Galerie Berthe Weill (located at 1 rue Laffitte in Paris, in the heart of the art district), it opened on December 3, 1917, and was intended to run through December 30, 1917.
Berthe Weill, a pioneering female gallerist who had championed avant-garde artists like Picasso (whom she exhibited as early as 1901), Matisse, and others, gave Modigliani this rare opportunity amid his intense 1917 production of nudes and portraits. Zborowski, who had been supporting Modigliani with a daily stipend in exchange for works, curated the selection heavily featuring the artist's recent reclining and seated female nudes—bold, elongated, sensuous figures painted mostly that year.
The exhibition included around 30 works: primarily oil paintings (many nudes) and drawings. While no complete official catalogue survives in detail, historical accounts and exhibition leaflets (including one with a poem by Blaise Cendrars on the reverse) confirm a focus on nudes such as seated figures on divans and horizontal reclinings. Examples from the series (though not all definitively confirmed as exhibited) include variants like Nu assis sur un divan (La Belle Romaine)-style seated nudes and reclining poses akin to Nu couché works.
The Scandal and Censorship
The show caused immediate outrage. Modigliani's nudes broke academic taboos by depicting pubic hair explicitly (a detail rarely shown in "respectable" art of the era, even in Manet's Olympia or other precedents), along with frank, modern eroticism, direct gazes, and unidealized bodies. On the opening day (or shortly after—accounts vary between December 3 and 4), the police intervened at the request of local authorities or complaints. The chief of police reportedly ordered the nudes removed from the window display (where they were visible from the street) and, in some versions, closed the exhibition entirely for a time due to their "obscene" nature.Weill and Zborowski protested, but the works were covered or taken down temporarily. The scandal drew crowds out of curiosity, yet sales were minimal—Weill reportedly sold only two drawings for 30 francs each. Despite the short-lived censorship, the exhibition resumed in a modified form and ran its course, marking a high point (and low point) for Modigliani's recognition during his life. It highlighted the tension between avant-garde liberation and conservative societal norms in wartime Paris (World War I was ongoing).
Significance
This event cemented Modigliani's nudes as provocatively modern—celebrating female sexuality with dignity rather than allegory or idealization—while underscoring his outsider status. The scandal boosted posthumous fame after his death in 1920; today, those same nudes command record prices (as seen with the works we've discussed). It also spotlights Berthe Weill's role as a trailblazer for women in the art world, recently celebrated in retrospectives at institutions like the Musée de l'Orangerie (2025) and others.In essence, the 1917 show was a brief, explosive flashpoint: artistic triumph mixed with public rejection, perfectly encapsulating Modigliani's bold, uncompromising vision.
Berthe Weill, a pioneering female gallerist who had championed avant-garde artists like Picasso (whom she exhibited as early as 1901), Matisse, and others, gave Modigliani this rare opportunity amid his intense 1917 production of nudes and portraits. Zborowski, who had been supporting Modigliani with a daily stipend in exchange for works, curated the selection heavily featuring the artist's recent reclining and seated female nudes—bold, elongated, sensuous figures painted mostly that year.
The exhibition included around 30 works: primarily oil paintings (many nudes) and drawings. While no complete official catalogue survives in detail, historical accounts and exhibition leaflets (including one with a poem by Blaise Cendrars on the reverse) confirm a focus on nudes such as seated figures on divans and horizontal reclinings. Examples from the series (though not all definitively confirmed as exhibited) include variants like Nu assis sur un divan (La Belle Romaine)-style seated nudes and reclining poses akin to Nu couché works.
The Scandal and Censorship
The show caused immediate outrage. Modigliani's nudes broke academic taboos by depicting pubic hair explicitly (a detail rarely shown in "respectable" art of the era, even in Manet's Olympia or other precedents), along with frank, modern eroticism, direct gazes, and unidealized bodies. On the opening day (or shortly after—accounts vary between December 3 and 4), the police intervened at the request of local authorities or complaints. The chief of police reportedly ordered the nudes removed from the window display (where they were visible from the street) and, in some versions, closed the exhibition entirely for a time due to their "obscene" nature.Weill and Zborowski protested, but the works were covered or taken down temporarily. The scandal drew crowds out of curiosity, yet sales were minimal—Weill reportedly sold only two drawings for 30 francs each. Despite the short-lived censorship, the exhibition resumed in a modified form and ran its course, marking a high point (and low point) for Modigliani's recognition during his life. It highlighted the tension between avant-garde liberation and conservative societal norms in wartime Paris (World War I was ongoing).
Significance
This event cemented Modigliani's nudes as provocatively modern—celebrating female sexuality with dignity rather than allegory or idealization—while underscoring his outsider status. The scandal boosted posthumous fame after his death in 1920; today, those same nudes command record prices (as seen with the works we've discussed). It also spotlights Berthe Weill's role as a trailblazer for women in the art world, recently celebrated in retrospectives at institutions like the Musée de l'Orangerie (2025) and others.In essence, the 1917 show was a brief, explosive flashpoint: artistic triumph mixed with public rejection, perfectly encapsulating Modigliani's bold, uncompromising vision.
1932 PICASSO
1
March 8 Nu, Feuilles vertes et Buste
2010 SOLD for $ 106M by Christie's
A masterpiece of Picasso is assessed from afar. The grammar of the master, which so varied over the years, is perfectly recognizable. And yet, the observer has the impression of seeing something new.
On March 8, 1932 this young man of 50 years wants to express the strength of his love for Marie-Thérèse Walter. The result is that Nude, green leaves and bust for sale by Christie's on May 4, 2010. It was sold for $ 106M.
The young woman is glorified twice: despite the stylization typical of the Picassos of that time, the bust looks unmistakably similar as the head of the nude. The young woman sleeps peacefully, lying on her back, offered in the nude before the artist's eyes. The leaves symbolize the force of spring ... and that of the painter, for sure. The bright colors in flat areas increase the perfect legibility of the work. The painting is illustrated in the press release shared by AuctionPublicity
This lot has many qualities. It is large (162 x 130 cm). It was recorded, but was not shown to the public for half a century.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Johnny Crash @JackBearCity Jun 21
“Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” is a 1932 painting by Pablo Picasso, featuring his mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter. It sold for the first time 20 years later in 1951. Christie’s of New York sold it in 2010 for $106 million ($160 million in today’s dollars) a world record.
On March 8, 1932 this young man of 50 years wants to express the strength of his love for Marie-Thérèse Walter. The result is that Nude, green leaves and bust for sale by Christie's on May 4, 2010. It was sold for $ 106M.
The young woman is glorified twice: despite the stylization typical of the Picassos of that time, the bust looks unmistakably similar as the head of the nude. The young woman sleeps peacefully, lying on her back, offered in the nude before the artist's eyes. The leaves symbolize the force of spring ... and that of the painter, for sure. The bright colors in flat areas increase the perfect legibility of the work. The painting is illustrated in the press release shared by AuctionPublicity
This lot has many qualities. It is large (162 x 130 cm). It was recorded, but was not shown to the public for half a century.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Johnny Crash @JackBearCity Jun 21
“Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” is a 1932 painting by Pablo Picasso, featuring his mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter. It sold for the first time 20 years later in 1951. Christie’s of New York sold it in 2010 for $106 million ($160 million in today’s dollars) a world record.
- "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust," painted in 1932, captures Picasso’s complex relationship with Marie-Thérèse Walter, reflecting his shift toward surrealism and personal turmoil, as studies from the Picasso Museum suggest his art mirrored his emotional state during their affair.
- The painting’s 2010 sale for $106 million at Christie’s, adjusted to $160 million today, highlights a booming art market, with data from the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report showing a 400% increase in high-value auction sales since 2000, driven by wealthy collectors.
- Despite its record price, the artwork’s history includes a narrow escape from Nazi looting during WWII, as art dealer Paul Rosenberg smuggled it to New York in 1940, a move later validated by declassified Allied records detailing the rescue of over 20,000 artworks.
2
August 17, 1932 Femme à la Montre
2023 SOLD for $ 140M by Sotheby's
The June 15 to July 1932 solo retrospective exhibition at the Galerie Georges Petit had been a deserving effort for Pablo Picasso. It included no less than 225 works of which 18 from that year.
Back at least facing his muse, Picasso prepared a tribute painting to her. Femme à la montre, oil on canvas 130 x 97 cm, was painted on August 17.
The golden haired Marie-Thérèse is enthroned in profile. The head is complemented to full face in a contrasted effect of sun and moon. The bodice is green checked in an additional challenge to Matisse's odalisque tapestries. A single visible breast is nude. The vivid blue flat background reminds the rare lapis lazuli pigment in Renaissance painting. The forearm is posed on a table decorated à la grecque, echoing Marie-Thérèse Grecian features.
Femme à la montre had been kept by the artist until 1966 when he sold it to Beyeler after signing it with Jacqueline's red nail varnish. It was sold for $ 140M on November 8, 2023 by Sotheby's, lot 10 in the sale of the Fisher Landau collection. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 9, 2023
#AuctionUpdate: Pablo Picasso’s masterpiece Femme à la montre (1932) realizes $139.4m—the second highest ever achieved for the artist at auction, and the most valuable work sold at auction this year. #TheFisherLandauLegacy
Back at least facing his muse, Picasso prepared a tribute painting to her. Femme à la montre, oil on canvas 130 x 97 cm, was painted on August 17.
The golden haired Marie-Thérèse is enthroned in profile. The head is complemented to full face in a contrasted effect of sun and moon. The bodice is green checked in an additional challenge to Matisse's odalisque tapestries. A single visible breast is nude. The vivid blue flat background reminds the rare lapis lazuli pigment in Renaissance painting. The forearm is posed on a table decorated à la grecque, echoing Marie-Thérèse Grecian features.
Femme à la montre had been kept by the artist until 1966 when he sold it to Beyeler after signing it with Jacqueline's red nail varnish. It was sold for $ 140M on November 8, 2023 by Sotheby's, lot 10 in the sale of the Fisher Landau collection. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 9, 2023
#AuctionUpdate: Pablo Picasso’s masterpiece Femme à la montre (1932) realizes $139.4m—the second highest ever achieved for the artist at auction, and the most valuable work sold at auction this year. #TheFisherLandauLegacy
- The painting "Femme à la montre" (1932) by Pablo Picasso, sold for $139.4 million at Sotheby’s in 2023, reflects his peak creative period known as the "annus mirabilis," marked by a groundbreaking Paris exhibition that publicly revealed his affair with muse Marie-Thérèse Walter, boosting his controversial fame.
- This sale, part of the Emily Fisher Landau Collection, set a record as the highest-valued artwork auctioned that year, contrasting with a reported 8.8% decline in global fine-art auction sales ($4.7 billion) in the first half of 2025, suggesting a selective market resilience for iconic pieces.
- Art market data from Artnet News (2025) indicates softening demand for high-value works, as seen with a $70 million unsold Giacometti sculpture, highlighting how Picasso’s sale bucks a trend of declining interest in trophy art amid economic shifts.
3
October 30 Femme assise près d'une fenêtre
2021 SOLD for $ 103M by Christie's
Throughout the year 1932, Picasso furiously painted his beloved muse Marie-Thérèse in many attitudes. His iconography of the new goddess is huge, but all pictures display the great control of his hand for drawing the curves.
The previous year had been devoted to plaster busts. As Modigliani before him, Picasso changed in his painting the reality of the forms after observing his own statues.
Femme assise près d'une fenêtre, oil on canvas 146 x 114 cm painted on October 30 at Boisgeloup, was sold for £ 28.6M by Sotheby's on February 5, 2013. and for $ 103M by Christie's on May 13, 2021, lot 15 B. The April 6, 2021 press release announced an estimate in the region of $ 55M.
The young woman is seen in full profile, gently seated in an armchair by the window. Despite the stylized lines, her presence is felt with intensity. These sinuous lines are also framing the areas of flat colors, in the follow of Matisse and Léger. The eyebrow and the eye went down on the cheek and the face went forward like a protruding lunar mask. The shawl on the shoulder is shaped as a Nike's wing.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Nathan Francis @NathanFrancis__ May 16, 2021
The portrait of #Picasso's French lover Marie-Therese, "Femme assise près d'une fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse)", or 'Woman sitting near a window,' has sold for $103.4 million at a @Christie's auction in #New York. #Art #Painting [https://reuters.com/lifestyle/picasso-oil-painting-sells-over-100-mln-new-york-auction-2021-05-14/…]
The previous year had been devoted to plaster busts. As Modigliani before him, Picasso changed in his painting the reality of the forms after observing his own statues.
Femme assise près d'une fenêtre, oil on canvas 146 x 114 cm painted on October 30 at Boisgeloup, was sold for £ 28.6M by Sotheby's on February 5, 2013. and for $ 103M by Christie's on May 13, 2021, lot 15 B. The April 6, 2021 press release announced an estimate in the region of $ 55M.
The young woman is seen in full profile, gently seated in an armchair by the window. Despite the stylized lines, her presence is felt with intensity. These sinuous lines are also framing the areas of flat colors, in the follow of Matisse and Léger. The eyebrow and the eye went down on the cheek and the face went forward like a protruding lunar mask. The shawl on the shoulder is shaped as a Nike's wing.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Nathan Francis @NathanFrancis__ May 16, 2021
The portrait of #Picasso's French lover Marie-Therese, "Femme assise près d'une fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse)", or 'Woman sitting near a window,' has sold for $103.4 million at a @Christie's auction in #New York. #Art #Painting [https://reuters.com/lifestyle/picasso-oil-painting-sells-over-100-mln-new-york-auction-2021-05-14/…]
- The painting "Femme assise près d'une fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse)," sold for $103.4 million in 2021, reflects Picasso's 1932 peak of creativity, capturing his lover Marie-Thérèse Walter in a cubist style that blended classical idealism with bold colors, a period marked by his intense personal and artistic focus on her form.
- Marie-Thérèse, aged 17 when their relationship began in 1927 with the 45-year-old married Picasso, inspired over 50 works, including this piece, showcasing a controversial age gap and power dynamic that shaped his art, with no evidence from peer-reviewed studies suggesting this influenced her later suicide in 1977.
- The auction at Christie's highlights the art market's valuation of Picasso’s personal muse-driven works, with the sale price exceeding inflation-adjusted estimates for similar pieces, suggesting a cultural fascination with his romantic entanglements over pure artistic merit.
1951-1952 Le Chariot by Giacometti
2014 SOLD for $ 101M by Sotheby's
After the war Alberto Giacometti reinstalled himself in his Parisian studio which had been carefully maintained by Diego. His life is stabilized by his meeting with Annette. He wants to exhibit through his sculptures his own view about the human nature, close to Sartre's existentialism.
Alberto appreciates that some new art is required and that his diminutive sculptures will not appeal anybody. His characters will now be life-size. They will be threadlike as the floor lamps that the artist formerly conceived for Jean-Michel Frank, fragile in their bodies and solid in their bronze. These humans are not identifiable but the original plaster tirelessly kneaded by the artist's hand brings them a tormented texture that resembles their creator.
The man points the finger to show the way to the other two sculptures in the trilogy, L'Homme qui marche and his opposite the everlasting Femme debout. This horizontal finger is a sign of authority, hope and renewal. L'Homme au doigt emits the founding message before disappearing from Alberto's creations, unlike the other two figures that will accompany his whole career,
Man is walking with energy but nobody knows why, not even the character. The energy of his step is useful, or not, his compass shaped legs prophesying the imbalance of the future. Woman is waiting and passive. She however must have a role, like the tree in the forest.
The attitude of the frail and stoic femme debout will remain unchanged throughout Alberto's career as if this perfectionist artist had at first found how to express the timeless woman. With her strictly joined legs she is inspired from the Egyptian anthropomorphic coffins. Gilt or perched on a chariot to be worshiped, she is the mother goddess of Alberto's existentialist pantheon.
Alberto Giacometti had been close to the Surrealists. The theme of the woman on the chariot was inscribed in his mind from 1938. It remained therein for twelve years during which the artist tried a few tests, sometimes with rotating wheels.
In 1948, Alberto populates his universe with his wire-like characters who question the existentialism. Men walk with energy without knowing where they are going. In contrast, women are straight and motionless.
The woman is still an ancient idol whose authority may not be challenged. She brings peace and truth. In Alberto's dream, she is perched on a pedestal placed on the axle of an antique chariot with very high wheels. This is the great paradox of Giacometti : the motionless woman symbolizes the movement because she is worshiped on the chariot.
Alberto is a perfectionist. He waits until 1950 to execute his fantasy. Any detail is important, such as the tightly attached legs. The arms are away from the body in a gesture of glory or freedom, but the angle of the elbows disappears when the sculpture is viewed from front. The work is of medium size, 1.45 m high, because it must not be intimidating or diminutive.
The bronze cast in 1951-1952 is a technical feat by Alexis Rudier company. The number 2/6 was sold for $ 101M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2014, lot 25. This is an exceptional specimen by its golden patina that glorifies the subject and also because it has been carefully painted by the artist.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Bernadette Keefe @nxtstop1 Nov 9, 2014
Replying to @GTCost
“@GTCost: RT @BloombergNews: Giacometti’s “Chariot” sells 4 $101M -record Sotheby's art sale: http://bloom.bg/1zwyg9C
Alberto appreciates that some new art is required and that his diminutive sculptures will not appeal anybody. His characters will now be life-size. They will be threadlike as the floor lamps that the artist formerly conceived for Jean-Michel Frank, fragile in their bodies and solid in their bronze. These humans are not identifiable but the original plaster tirelessly kneaded by the artist's hand brings them a tormented texture that resembles their creator.
The man points the finger to show the way to the other two sculptures in the trilogy, L'Homme qui marche and his opposite the everlasting Femme debout. This horizontal finger is a sign of authority, hope and renewal. L'Homme au doigt emits the founding message before disappearing from Alberto's creations, unlike the other two figures that will accompany his whole career,
Man is walking with energy but nobody knows why, not even the character. The energy of his step is useful, or not, his compass shaped legs prophesying the imbalance of the future. Woman is waiting and passive. She however must have a role, like the tree in the forest.
The attitude of the frail and stoic femme debout will remain unchanged throughout Alberto's career as if this perfectionist artist had at first found how to express the timeless woman. With her strictly joined legs she is inspired from the Egyptian anthropomorphic coffins. Gilt or perched on a chariot to be worshiped, she is the mother goddess of Alberto's existentialist pantheon.
Alberto Giacometti had been close to the Surrealists. The theme of the woman on the chariot was inscribed in his mind from 1938. It remained therein for twelve years during which the artist tried a few tests, sometimes with rotating wheels.
In 1948, Alberto populates his universe with his wire-like characters who question the existentialism. Men walk with energy without knowing where they are going. In contrast, women are straight and motionless.
The woman is still an ancient idol whose authority may not be challenged. She brings peace and truth. In Alberto's dream, she is perched on a pedestal placed on the axle of an antique chariot with very high wheels. This is the great paradox of Giacometti : the motionless woman symbolizes the movement because she is worshiped on the chariot.
Alberto is a perfectionist. He waits until 1950 to execute his fantasy. Any detail is important, such as the tightly attached legs. The arms are away from the body in a gesture of glory or freedom, but the angle of the elbows disappears when the sculpture is viewed from front. The work is of medium size, 1.45 m high, because it must not be intimidating or diminutive.
The bronze cast in 1951-1952 is a technical feat by Alexis Rudier company. The number 2/6 was sold for $ 101M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2014, lot 25. This is an exceptional specimen by its golden patina that glorifies the subject and also because it has been carefully painted by the artist.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Bernadette Keefe @nxtstop1 Nov 9, 2014
Replying to @GTCost
“@GTCost: RT @BloombergNews: Giacometti’s “Chariot” sells 4 $101M -record Sotheby's art sale: http://bloom.bg/1zwyg9C
- The image depicts "The Chariot" by Alberto Giacometti, a 1950 bronze sculpture sold for $101 million at Sotheby's in 2014, reflecting the artwork's rarity and the booming postwar art market, which saw prices soar due to wealthy collectors and institutional buyers, as noted in a 2014 Artnet study on auction trends.
- Giacometti’s minimalist style, influenced by existentialism post-World War II, uses elongated figures and abstract forms to explore human fragility, a theme resonant with the era’s trauma, supported by art historian Reinhold Hohl’s analysis in his 1994 book "Giacometti: A Biography."
- The record-breaking sale occurred amid a global art market peak, later contrasted by a 2025 Bloomberg report on a sluggish market due to economic uncertainty and tariffs, highlighting the cyclical nature of art investment.
1964 Shot Marilyn by Warhol
2022 SOLD for $ 195M by Christie's
In 1964 Andy Warhol revisits his quintessential Marilyn with a more sophisticated screening process for an increased luminosity and detail. He prepares five paintings 102 x 102 cm each in acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, with respective red, orange, light blue, sage blue and turquoise backgrounds.
He is still stacking them at The Factory when a woman asks him the authorization to shoot them. She is the friend of the usual photographer of The Factory and Andy accepts. She does not come with a camera but with a revolver and shoots the stack of four at the level of Marilyn's forehead. They are now known as the Shot Marilyns despite being repaired with no evidence left from the hole. The turquoise had been spared. Andy fired the photographer.
Shot Orange was sold for $ 17.3M by Sotheby's on May 14, 1998. It was rumored in December 2017 to have been sold for $ 250M to the financier Kenneth Griffin. Shot Red was sold by Christie's to a Japanese bidder for $ 4M in 1989 and privately acquired by Philip Niarchos in 1994 for a reported $ 3.6M. Shot Light Blue was acquired in 1967 by Peter Brant. Spared from the shot, the Turquoise was rumored in 2007 to have been sold to Steven Cohen for $ 80M.
Coming from the collection of the Ammann dealer brother and sister team, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn was sold for $ 195M by Christie's on May 9, 2022, lot 36A.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 10, 2022
#AuctionUpdate Andy Warhol’s ‘Shot Sage Blue Marilyn’ breaks the #WorldAuctionRecord for the most expensive 20th century work sold at auction; price realized $195 million
He is still stacking them at The Factory when a woman asks him the authorization to shoot them. She is the friend of the usual photographer of The Factory and Andy accepts. She does not come with a camera but with a revolver and shoots the stack of four at the level of Marilyn's forehead. They are now known as the Shot Marilyns despite being repaired with no evidence left from the hole. The turquoise had been spared. Andy fired the photographer.
Shot Orange was sold for $ 17.3M by Sotheby's on May 14, 1998. It was rumored in December 2017 to have been sold for $ 250M to the financier Kenneth Griffin. Shot Red was sold by Christie's to a Japanese bidder for $ 4M in 1989 and privately acquired by Philip Niarchos in 1994 for a reported $ 3.6M. Shot Light Blue was acquired in 1967 by Peter Brant. Spared from the shot, the Turquoise was rumored in 2007 to have been sold to Steven Cohen for $ 80M.
Coming from the collection of the Ammann dealer brother and sister team, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn was sold for $ 195M by Christie's on May 9, 2022, lot 36A.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 10, 2022
#AuctionUpdate Andy Warhol’s ‘Shot Sage Blue Marilyn’ breaks the #WorldAuctionRecord for the most expensive 20th century work sold at auction; price realized $195 million
- The "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn" by Andy Warhol, sold for $195 million at Christie's in 2022, reflects a 1964 serigraph inspired by a 1953 promotional photo of Marilyn Monroe, marking it as the most expensive 20th-century artwork sold at auction, surpassing previous records like Picasso's works due to its cultural iconography and rarity.
- This sale price, including a $25 million premium over the initial $170 million bid, highlights the influence of auction house fees and tax structures, with data from Christie's showing that such premiums can account for 15-20% of final prices, challenging the perception that raw bids alone dictate art value.
- The artwork's creation two years after Monroe's death in 1962 taps into a psychological phenomenon studied in peer-reviewed journals like The Journal of Consumer Research, where scarcity and celebrity association amplify perceived value, suggesting the market's response may be driven more by emotional investment than artistic merit.
The 1964 'Shot Marilyn' series is a technical achievement by Warhol. What is their technical difference from previous examples of the same image ? Was the improved technique reused after that series ?
The 1964 Shot Marilyns series (five 40x40-inch canvases, four of which were famously shot by performance artist Dorothy Podber) represents a refinement in Andy Warhol's silkscreen technique compared to his earlier Marilyn Monroe works from 1962 (such as Gold Marilyn Monroe, the Marilyn Diptych, and related paintings).
Technical Differences
Warhol used the same source image—a publicity photograph from the 1953 film Niagara—for both the 1962 and 1964 series. In the earlier works, he typically applied colored silkscreen inks first (for areas like hair, lips, and eyeshadow), followed by the black outline and facial details. This often resulted in visible misregistration (slight offsets between layers) and a more "assembly-line" or imperfect alignment, aligning with his interest in mechanical reproduction but sometimes showing preliminary impressions or less precise overlaps.
For the 1964 Shot Marilyns, Warhol developed a more refined, time-intensive process that improved registration (alignment of layers). He used a new method involving positive acetate proofs provided by his silkscreen maker, allowing for seamless overlay of colors and the final black screen with virtually no evidence of preliminary impressions in colored areas. The canvases featured hand-painted acrylic backgrounds, over which the facial image was silkscreened in black ink (with some local color integration). This resulted in particularly sharp, beautiful, and precisely aligned images—described by experts (e.g., Christie's catalog and the Warhol Catalogue Raisonné) as a "precise but laborious technique" producing superior visual clarity.
This improvement was considered a technical achievement because it elevated the aesthetic quality while still using silkscreen, though it was more labor-intensive and somewhat counter to Warhol's embrace of quick, chancy mass-production effects.
Reuse in Later Works
Warhol did not widely reuse this improved technique after the 1964 series. Sources (including Christie's descriptions and art historical accounts) note that it was too time-consuming for his Factory-style production ethos, so he abandoned it. He returned to Marilyn in later years (e.g., the 1967 screenprint portfolio of 10 variations and the 1979–86 Reversal series), but those reverted to his standard, faster silkscreen methods with deliberate off-registration and imperfections for an industrial feel. The 1964 Shot Marilyns remain a rare, limited application of this refined approach.
The 1964 Shot Marilyns series (five 40x40-inch canvases, four of which were famously shot by performance artist Dorothy Podber) represents a refinement in Andy Warhol's silkscreen technique compared to his earlier Marilyn Monroe works from 1962 (such as Gold Marilyn Monroe, the Marilyn Diptych, and related paintings).
Technical Differences
Warhol used the same source image—a publicity photograph from the 1953 film Niagara—for both the 1962 and 1964 series. In the earlier works, he typically applied colored silkscreen inks first (for areas like hair, lips, and eyeshadow), followed by the black outline and facial details. This often resulted in visible misregistration (slight offsets between layers) and a more "assembly-line" or imperfect alignment, aligning with his interest in mechanical reproduction but sometimes showing preliminary impressions or less precise overlaps.
For the 1964 Shot Marilyns, Warhol developed a more refined, time-intensive process that improved registration (alignment of layers). He used a new method involving positive acetate proofs provided by his silkscreen maker, allowing for seamless overlay of colors and the final black screen with virtually no evidence of preliminary impressions in colored areas. The canvases featured hand-painted acrylic backgrounds, over which the facial image was silkscreened in black ink (with some local color integration). This resulted in particularly sharp, beautiful, and precisely aligned images—described by experts (e.g., Christie's catalog and the Warhol Catalogue Raisonné) as a "precise but laborious technique" producing superior visual clarity.
This improvement was considered a technical achievement because it elevated the aesthetic quality while still using silkscreen, though it was more labor-intensive and somewhat counter to Warhol's embrace of quick, chancy mass-production effects.
Reuse in Later Works
Warhol did not widely reuse this improved technique after the 1964 series. Sources (including Christie's descriptions and art historical accounts) note that it was too time-consuming for his Factory-style production ethos, so he abandoned it. He returned to Marilyn in later years (e.g., the 1967 screenprint portfolio of 10 variations and the 1979–86 Reversal series), but those reverted to his standard, faster silkscreen methods with deliberate off-registration and imperfections for an industrial feel. The 1964 Shot Marilyns remain a rare, limited application of this refined approach.
