A brilliant blue painting by Pablo Picasso of his young mistress was crowned the prized lot of the November auction season so far after it sold at Sotheby’s in New York for $139.4 million, with buyer’s fees, on Wednesday.
But it was an anonymous bidder who named the winning price over the telephone.
(The work nonetheless fell short of the $179.4 million auction high for the artist, established at Christie’s in 2015.)
“When it’s hard to compel someone to sell something, you need to put money on the table,” said Benjamin Godsill, an art adviser watching the sale.
There is still a market, even if there weren’t fireworks.”
Persons:
Pablo Picasso, Picasso’s, Marie, Thérèse Walter, Emily Fisher Landau, Sotheby’s, Picasso, Auctioneers, ”, Benjamin Godsill
Locations:
New York, Christie’s, Long Island City, Queens