Autumn 2021


Art & Auctions
Big Picasso Sale


A selection of Pablo Picasso’s masterworks will be presented at an auction in October coinciding with the iconic artist’s 140th birthday.

MGM Resorts and Sotheby’s will present a special, first-of-its-kind marquee Evening Sale of masterworks by Picasso from the MGM Resorts Fine Art Collection on  October 23, marking the largest and most significant fine art auction to ever take place in Las Vegas.

Brooke Lampley, Sotheby’s Chairman and Worldwide Head of Sales for Global Fine Art, commented: “It is a privilege to present this exemplary selection of works by Picasso from the MGM art collection in a special auction to support MGM Resorts in evolving their collection to represent a broader and more diverse group of artists.”

Featuring 11 works that showcase the range and breadth of Picasso’s celebrated career, the auction includes a highly curated selection of paintings, works on paper, and ceramics that span more than 50 years of artistic output from 1917 to 1969.

The auction stars Femme au béret rouge-orange (estimate $20/30 million), one of Picasso’s defining portraits of Marie-Thérèse Walter, the artist’s famed muse and lover who inspired many of his most revered and iconic portraits of the 1930s. Executed in 1938, the present painting is one the artist’s final works capturing Marie-Thérèse, and marks a pivotal time after Picasso met the photographer Dora Maar, whose visage slowly began to eclipse that of Marie-Thérèse in his work.

Picasso’s deeply autobiographical portraits from this period reveal characteristics of both women, and reinforce how exceedingly rare paintings of Marie-Thérèse are from this year. Adorned with her signature beret, Picasso’s tender portrait uses a yellow and green palette to accentuate Marie-Thérèse’s rounded features, which are characteristic of Picasso’s portrayals of her, and further highlights how much the artist coveted this highly personal painting, which he kept in his private collection for decades.

 





© Al Hilal Group all rights reserved. Designed & Developed by North Star.