Three Picasso paintings will be auctioned online
The most expensive piece starts at 8 million yuan
Following the online auction of 5 original works by art master Xu Beihong, 3 works by modern art master Pablo Picasso also fancy Ali’s auction, which will be auctioned online on August 30. The three works include ceramics “Lunch on the Grass”, “Knight and Horse” and the color lithograph “Happy Clown”. Among them, “Lunch on the Grass” is the most expensive of the three works, with a starting price of 8 million yuan. . Users can search for “Picasso Auction” on Taobao and Alipay on their mobile phones to directly participate in the auction with one click.
In recent years, Picasso’s works have been sought after by collectors and have repeatedly set new auction prices in the international auction market. For example, in May of this year, his oil painting “The Woman Sitting by the Window” sold for 103.4 million US dollars, or about 665.5 million yuan. In the past few years, his “Woman of Algiers (Version O)” was sold for a sky-high price of US$179 million.
“Lunch on the Grass” is one of the most precious works of Picasso’s 30 years of ceramic creation. It was created in 1964 and is a terracotta ceramic work. The porcelain body is carved with a knife. It is 60 cm long and 50 cm wide.
Picasso once said that this is a work created under the influence of Edward Manet, the founder of Impressionism. In 1863, Manet created the oil painting “Lunch on the Grass”, which caused great controversy in Paris, which also made him famous. 100 years later, Picasso repainted this classic oil painting on ceramics in his own unique style.
“Lunch on the Grass” was once the collection of Picasso’s granddaughter (Marina Picasso) and a frequent visitor to major pavilions. In 1985, 2010, and 2014, it was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of New York three times, and was in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of New York.
Another work in this auction, “Knight and Horse”, was created in 1952 and is a work in the collection of the French Ceramic Museum of Madura. It uses white pottery that is unique to southern France, and is made with horses and knights in the form of a variant vase. The starting price is 180,000 yuan. In comparison, the ceramic works of the same series were sold for US$56,250, or approximately RMB 365,000, at an auction in New York in May this year.
A reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily saw at the Ali auction that the color lithograph “Happy Clown” created in 1964 had a starting price of 120,000 yuan, and the painting was signed with a blue crayon by Picasso.
In addition to Picasso’s original works, 17 photographs by Picasso’s queen photographer Edward Quinn were also put on auction by Ali. Edward Quinn is one of the few photographers invited by Picasso to enter his studio and residence and establish a long-lasting friendship. The auctioned photographs record the scenes of Picasso’s work and life during the Madura ceramics studio, and were exhibited at the 2017 Picasso Museum’s photography exhibition. The starting price of each work is 18,000 yuan.
It is reported that these lots are provided by LC Chinese and Foreign Art. It is the first foreign gallery in Guangdong Province and the only authorized partner of the Picasso Foundation and the Edward Quinn Museum in China. In addition, Jonathan Nash provided authenticity verification for these works. He served as a senior consultant for the “Picasso Ceramics” held by Sotheby’s and Christie’s.
Text/Reporter Wang Yan
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