The eagerly awaited auction of the MGM Resorts' collection of 11 Pablo Picasso's artworks (including paintings, works on paper, and ceramics), held jointly by Sotheby's and MGM Resorts in Las Vegas, achieved an impressive $110 million on the evening of October 24.
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The star of the auction was a portrait that Picasso had painted on January 14, 1938 of his partner and muse Marie-Thérèse. Femme au béret rouge-orange (Woman with a Red-Orange Beret), was estimated at $20-30 million and was finally sold for $40.4 million, making it the 18th most expensive Picasso in auction history, according to Barnebys' price database.
Of the seven other pieces that were auctioned for a seven-figure price, the unique hand-painted terracotta panel Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe (Luncheon on the the Grass) deserves special mention as it quadrupled its estimated price from $300,000-500,000 to a final sale of $2.1 million. The work was inspired by Edouard Manet's iconic painting of the same name, painted in 1862, now in the Musee d'Orsay.
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MGM Resorts had decided to part with the works of art in order to make its collection more diverse in the future.
You can find more news from the auction market on Barnebys Magazine
