Las Vegas, Oct. 24 (BUS): Eleven works of Pablo Picasso have sold for $109 million at an auction in Las Vegas to coincide with the artist’s 140th birthday.
The nine paintings and two ceramic pieces inside Picasso’s had been on display at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Arts for more than two decades until the owner of MGM Resorts decided earlier this year to sell them.
Saturday’s event was organized by Sotheby’s and was the first time the famous auction house had organized an evening marquee sale in North America outside of its New York sale. Picasso’s artwork appeared from 1917 to 1969.
Auction officials said Picasso’s 1938 portrait of his muse, Marie Therese Walter, entitled “Woman in a Reddish Orange Hat” sold for $40.5 million after a bidding battle, estimates well above $20 million to $30. Million.
The painting last sold at auction in the 1980s for about $900,000, was acquired by casino magnate Steve Wynn in 1998 and became property of MGM Resorts when the company purchased The Mirage Resort from Wynn.