Picasso’s Popular Portraits Auctioned in London

Christie’s International held a three-hour auction of modern and Impressionist art in London on June 21, 2011.  Since Pablo Picasso is the world’s most heavily traded modern artist, it makes sense that his portraits of three different lovers sold for $68.5 million dollars (42.2 million pounds).

A 1939 painting of Dora Maar, “Femme assise, robe bleue,” showing Picasso’s lover on a chair sporting a purple hat, was estimated to sell between 4 to 8 million pounds and went for an incredible 18 million pounds.

At the 2010 auction at Christie’s, New York, a 1932 painting of Picasso’s mistress Marie-Therese Walter “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” reached an artwork at auction high when sold for $106.5 million.

Another painting of Marie-Therese Walter titled “Jean fille endormie” was sold for 13.5 million pounds ($21.9 million) at the auction last week.

“The market is strong,” the New York-based dealer Tony Shafrazi said. “The media is panicking about the economy, and yet there’s a lot of hidden money out there.”

Wealthy investors, who use art collections as a hedge against the recession, battled for paintings by the Spanish artist.

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