Eleven Picasso paintings and other works that helped turn Las Vegas into an unlikely destination for art were auctioned at the weekend for more than $100m (about R1,5bn).
The Sotheby’s sale was held at the Bellagio hotel, where the works had been on display for years, and took place two days before the 140th birthday of the Spanish artist on October 25.
Five of the paintings had hung on the walls of the Bellagio’s fine-dining restaurant, Picasso. The restaurant will continue to display 12 other Picasso works.
The highest price was fetched by the 1938 painting Femme auberet rouge-orange of Picasso’s lover and muse Marie-Therese Walter, which sold for $40.5m (about R600m), some $10m (about R148m) over the high presale estimate.
The sale was part of a bid by casino and hotel group MGM Resorts to further diversify its vast collection to include more art from women, people of colour and emerging nations, as well as from LGBTQ artists and artists with disabilities.
The large-scale portraits Homme et Enfant and Busted’homme sold for $24.4m (about R360m) and $9.5 million (about R140m) respectively, while smaller works on ceramic, such as Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe, which sold for $2.1m (about R40m), went for three or four times their presale estimate.
The buyers’ names were not disclosed.
The sale was part of a bid by casino and hotel group MGM Resorts to further diversify its vast collection to include more art from women, people of colour and emerging nations, as well as from LGBTQ artists and artists with disabilities.
American museums and art galleries have been working to broaden their collections in the wake of the widespread cultural reckoning in 2020 over racism at all levels of US society.
A 2019 Public Library of Science study of 18 leading US museums found 85% of the artists on display are white and 87% are men.
The MGM Resorts Fine Arts Collection boasts about 900 works by 200 artists, including modern pieces by Bob Dylan and David Hockney. It was started more than 20 years ago by Steve Wynn, former owner of the Bellagio and former CEO of Wynn Resorts.
— Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.