Picasso painting auctioned off for $139 million
November 9, 2023
Pablo Picasso's 1932 painting "Woman with a Watch" has been sold for $139.3 million (€129.9 million) at an auction by Sotheby's in New York.
It is the second-highest price ever achieved for the painter's work.
An anonymous buyer outbid two others to secure the masterpiece on Wednesday.
The story behind Picasso's 'Woman with a Watch'
The painting depicts one of the Spanish artist's lovers and muses — French painter Marie-Therese Walter — seated in a throne-like chair against a blue background.
Walter met Picasso in Paris in 1927 at the age of 17, when he was still married to Russian-Ukrainian ballet dancer Olga Khokhlova. Their passionate affair inspired Picasso to create numerous portraits of Walter.
The painting is a part of a special sale showcasing an estimated $400 million collection of artworks owned by art patron Emily Fisher Landau who died this year.
The most-expensive Picasso painting to sell at auction, "Les femmes d'Alger" fetched $179.3 million, including a buyer’s premium, at Christie’s in 2015.
Picasso remains one of the most influential artists of the modern world.
dvv/lo (AFP, Reuters)