Pablo Picasso painting sells for $103 million in New York

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image credit: Reuters Picasso's
Picasso's "Woman sitting by a window (Marie-Therese)" was completed in 1932. Image credit: Reuters

Pablo Picasso painting sells for $103 million in New York

Pablo Picasso’s “Woman sitting by a window (Marie-Therese)” sold for $103.4 million on Thursday,  at Christie’s in New York. The price is double as compared to what was estimated it would be sold at, which was 55 million US Dollars. This is the fifth Picasso painting to cross the $100 million price. Till now the most expensive painting by Picasso is, “Women of Algiers”, which was sold for $179.4 million in 2015.

The work, titled Femme Assise Pres d’Une Fenetre (Marie-Therese) in French, was completed in 1932. It was sold after just 19 minutes of bidding for $90 million, which rose to $103.4 million when fees and commissions were added, Christie’s said.  This is the first time in the last two that an artwork crossed the $100 million mark. The previous artwork to cross the mark was Claude Monet Meules painting, which reached $110.7m at Sotheby’s, also in New York.

Pablo Picasso, born in 1881 in Spain was a painter and sculptor. He spent his adult life in France and contributed many valuable works in his field. His work still reserves a high position in the contemporary art market. The painting, “Woman sitting by a window (Marie-Therese)”, depicts Picasso’s young mistress and muse. The price of this painting shows the continuing significance and popularity of works by Picasso. Amid the global pandemic, this impressive sales figure is a sign of  relief for the art market.

With a total sum of $481 million, Thursday’s auctions at New York auction house performed well in the art market. Commenting on the success of Thursday’s auction, Bonnie Brennan, president of Christie’s America, said “signals a real return to normal and also a message that the art market is really back on track”. 

(With AFP inputs)