Picasso – Femme assise UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £43.3 MILLION
Picasso’s Femme assise, hailed by Sotheby’s as the most important Cubist painting to come to auction in decades, will lead the Impressionist and Modern art sale at Sotheby’s in London on June 21. Painted in 1909 it is from the series that revolutionized Picasso’s working methods.
It was painted in the summer of that year when Picasso travelled to the remote village of Horta de Ebro in his native Spain. The village was accessible only by mule. Here he created a number of canvasses based on his love Fernande Olivier. Femme assize is one of a small number of portraits from the series remaining in private hands. Sotheby’s has not released an estimate for the work.
Helena Newman, Global Co-Head of Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Department, said: “Cubism not only underpins Picasso’s entire creative output but also marks a defining moment in Modern Art. Whilst major paintings from other key periods by Picasso have appeared on the market in recent years, it has been decades since a Cubist painting of this calibre has been offered at auction, since virtually all the significant works of this period are in international museums and institutions. Femme assise, painted in 1909, is one of the artist’s greatest masterpieces to be sold in a generation.”
