General

  In a recent post I argued that Picasso drawings are on a tear.  In this one I’ll offer reasons why they are still a buy, especially relative to other Picasso mediums, as well as relative to drawings by other “modern masters”.  (Before we begin, in case you’re wondering whether I have any conflict of interest, I should submit that in this case I have no particular disclosures to make except for the general case, which is that we own and offer for sale Picassos in all of these mediums.) The art market is in a state of perpetual disequilibrium, as we have earlier discussed, and the Picasso market is no exception.  But among Picassos, the medium in which the […]

…but I don’t mean the elections. There were so many astonishing results in the NY auctions this week.  For the sake of brevity (and diplomacy), I’ll limit my comments to the two paintings I previewed (below) as well as one particular drawing.  Let’s start with the drawing, by far the most riveting result.  Le Viol (The Rape, 1940), pen, brush and ink on paper, 38 x 46 cm, was estimated at $4-6M but fetched $13,522,500.  This result speaks for itself, though I’m not exactly sure what it says.  Except that it breaks the world’s record by a mile for a black-and-white work on paper by Picasso.  It also comes in at the heels of the third priciest Picasso work on paper

Though the year in art has just begun, I feel nonetheless confident in saying that the best buy of the year has already occurred. Le repos (The Repose, 1932), a serene portrait of Marie-Thérèse sleeping on her hands, is the finest artwork I’ve seen all year and one of my very favorite portraits of this model.  Smallish (46 cm), yes, but I for one don’t judge artworks by their size, unlike so many of the real estate speculators in the art market. This gem sold at Christie’s NY in May for just under $10M on an estimate of $5-7M. (It last sold in the same room a decade earlier for just over $3M, and before that was bought in at

Tête couronnée (Crowned Head) Yesterday  marked Picasso’s 130th birthday.  Hard to imagine that the quintessentially modern artist lived so long ago!  Included in our collection is a Blue Period drawing that is shockingly over a century old—a veritable antique.  Happy birthday, Pablo!