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The finest Blue Period work by Pablo Picasso to come to auction in a generation and a seminal Waterlilies by Claude Monet come up at Sotheby’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern  art in New York on November 5.   Picacco’s La Gommeuse of 1901 and Monets Nympheas (1908) are from the collection of American entrepreneur and America’s Cup winner William I. Koch.

Simon Shaw, Co-Head of Sotheby’s Worldwide Impressionist & Modern Art Department, said: “Above all others, Picasso’s Blue Period is prized as his breakthrough – this is the moment Picasso becomes Picasso. With her dreamy gaze and frank sensuality, the cabaret dancer in La Gommeuse ushers in a new visual idiom for the 20^th century. Exploring themes which would underpin Picasso’s work for the next seven decades, the painting stands squarely between the bohemian nightlife of Toulouse-Lautrec and the raw expressionism of Munch and Schiele. La Gommeuse and Nymphéas hung together in the salon of Bill Koch’s beautiful home. These are two icons of art history from one of the greatest American collections ever assembled – a testament to Mr. Koch’s unique connoisseurship, which we are honored to celebrate this fall at Sotheby’s.”

Picasso’s Blue Period works are exceptionally rare, with most residing in prestigious institutional collections including: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Musée Picasso, Paris; and the Art Institute of Chicago.

The paintings will be on view at Sotheby’s in London during Frieze week from October 10-15.

La Gommeuse – Pablo Picasso UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $67.45 MILLION

UPD

Nymphéas – Claude Monet ($30-50 million)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $33,850,000