A 1932 painting by Pablo Picasso set a world art auction record on Tuesday when it sold for a staggering US$106.4 million, the auction house Christie’s announced in New York.
The Spanish master’s painting, Nu au Plateau de Sculpteur (Nude, Green Leaves and Bust), had been expected to bring in US$70 million to US$90 million but soared past that figure to eclipse the record set in February, when Alberto Giacometti’s Walking Man I sculpture sold in London for US$104.3 million.
The sale — to an unidentified buyer — narrowly beat out the previous record of US$104 million paid out for another Picasso piece, Garcon a la Pipe, in New York in 2004.
PHOTO: REUTERS/CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD
The large, sensual painting auctioned on Tuesday has been exhibited just once in public since 1961, and was a highlight of the collection of assembled by the late Los Angeles art patrons Frances and Sidney Brody.
The vibrant depiction of Picasso’s mistress and frequent subject, Marie-Therese Walter, was the top priced work at Christie’s sale of Impressionist and modern art.
The sale netted $335.5 million for the auction house.
Tuesday’s sale marked the beginning of New York’s art auction season, and confirmed the renewed confidence of art dealers who said last week ahead of major spring auctions of Impressionist, modern and contemporary works that the financial crisis was largely behind them.
Art experts were said to be watching Tuesday’s auction closely for signs that the art market was indeed clawing its way back.
With Wall Street profits back from the 2007 to 2008 financial crisis, the auctions will feature a string of top-end works aimed at big-spending collectors.
The Brody collection also features works by Giacometti and Henri Matisse. The New York Times reported that Christie’s and Sotheby’s battled for four months to win the Brody sale, with the winner coming away after offering an undisclosed guaranteed sum to be paid to the sellers, whatever the result of the auction. This revives a practice largely abandoned when the late 2008 financial meltdown hit the art market.
Sotheby’s was scheduled to auction a string of masterpieces yesterday, including a Matisse called Bouquet pour le 14 juillet 1919, which could fetch between US$18 million and US$25 million.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft