An erotically charged Picasso oil painting of his mistress alongside tulips and fruit, which was on display in Hong Kong last month, has sold for US$41.5 million in New York.
Nature morte aux tulipes, painted in 1932, was the star of Sotheby’s Impressionist and modern art sale in Manhattan. The presale estimate for the work had been between US$35 million and US$50 million.
The painting depicts the head of Marie-Therese Walter, who was Picasso’s lover and famous muse, and a suggestive flower arrangement.
Another of the Marie-Therese series, Femme a la fenetre (Marie-Therese), sold for US$17.2 million.
Other successes at Sotheby’s included US$12.1 million paid for Champ de ble by Claude Monet, well above the estimate of up to US$7 million.
Paul Cezanne’s Femme nue debout went for US$5.3 million and Henry Moore’s sculpture Two piece reclining figure No 1 sold for US$4.7 million, at the high end of an estimate.