A number of important works from Steve Wyn’s private collection were auctioned off at his Bellagio Hotel in Los Angeles on Saturday evening, fetching more than $100 million for 11 Picasso pieces. The auction, arranged by Sotheby’s, brought $40.5 million for Picasso’s 1938 Femme au Béret Rouge-Orange, said to depict his lover and muse Marie-Thérèse Walter. Picasso’s portraits Homme et Enfant and Buste d’Homme sold for $24.4 million and $9.5 million respectively, and his Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe fetched $2.1 million. The buyers’ names have not been made public.
The other Picasso pieces that sold had hung in the hotel for years, drawing art afficindos from all over the world. The restaurant, aptly named Picasso, will retain 12 other works by the Spanish artist. The auction was held two days before what would have been the 104th birthday of the much loved master.
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