The $179 Million Picasso
May 12, 2015 10:19 AM Subscribe
Picasso's "Les Femmes d'Alger" sold for a record-breaking $179,365,000 yesterday at a Christie's auction in New York.
CNN Money reports:
"The 1955 canvas, 'Les femmes d'Alger (Version 'O'),' sets a new bar for the contemporary art market. Previously, the most expensive art work sold at auction was Francis Bacon's 'Three Studies of Lucian Freud,' which went for $142 million in 2013."
According to The New York Times:
"Picasso’s 'Les Femmes d’Alger (Version 'O')' is the most opulent and imposing of a series of paintings that the Spanish-born artist produced from 1954 to 1955 in response to Eugène Delacroix’s 1834 Orientalist masterpiece, 'Women of Algiers.' It had last been on the market in November 1997, when it sold for $31.9 million at a Christie’s auction of works owned by the American collectors, Victor and Sally Ganz. It was bought at that auction by a Saudi collector and kept in a house in London, said two dealers with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be named because of concerns over confidentiality. Monday night’s seller, who was not identified, had been guaranteed a minimum price by Christie’s, which estimated the work would fetch about $140 million."
CNN Money reports:
"The 1955 canvas, 'Les femmes d'Alger (Version 'O'),' sets a new bar for the contemporary art market. Previously, the most expensive art work sold at auction was Francis Bacon's 'Three Studies of Lucian Freud,' which went for $142 million in 2013."
According to The New York Times:
"Picasso’s 'Les Femmes d’Alger (Version 'O')' is the most opulent and imposing of a series of paintings that the Spanish-born artist produced from 1954 to 1955 in response to Eugène Delacroix’s 1834 Orientalist masterpiece, 'Women of Algiers.' It had last been on the market in November 1997, when it sold for $31.9 million at a Christie’s auction of works owned by the American collectors, Victor and Sally Ganz. It was bought at that auction by a Saudi collector and kept in a house in London, said two dealers with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be named because of concerns over confidentiality. Monday night’s seller, who was not identified, had been guaranteed a minimum price by Christie’s, which estimated the work would fetch about $140 million."
So is now technically Picasso's green period?
posted by I-baLL at 10:25 AM on May 12, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by I-baLL at 10:25 AM on May 12, 2015 [8 favorites]
Worth it.
posted by dirtdirt at 10:26 AM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by dirtdirt at 10:26 AM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Eh, I wouldn't have paid more than $155M for it. Someone got taken.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:41 AM on May 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:41 AM on May 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
Related: The art market is 'shady,' says Dr. Doom
Ahhh, CNN Money, don't ever change.
posted by chavenet at 10:50 AM on May 12, 2015
Ahhh, CNN Money, don't ever change.
posted by chavenet at 10:50 AM on May 12, 2015
But did they pay the $75 luxury tax?
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:53 AM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:53 AM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
I feel sorry for xingcat's couch.
posted by Etrigan at 10:57 AM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 10:57 AM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
"It belongs in a museum"
posted by Axle at 11:01 AM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Axle at 11:01 AM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Is the frame included?
posted by Kabanos at 11:06 AM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Kabanos at 11:06 AM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's kind of sad to me that hedge fund managers and Saudi oil barons are amassing private collections of fine art as status symbols or purely as investments and driving up valuations. It makes having publicly-accessible art less and less likely.
Record auction prices are nothing more than a sign of insanely unbalanced wealth distribution.
posted by rocket88 at 11:06 AM on May 12, 2015 [19 favorites]
Record auction prices are nothing more than a sign of insanely unbalanced wealth distribution.
posted by rocket88 at 11:06 AM on May 12, 2015 [19 favorites]
Video of the sale. Don't miss the hella buster $159,500,000 bid at around 2:30.
posted by theodolite at 11:08 AM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 11:08 AM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
"Unbalanced wealth distribution? You don't say... I've overheard the help speak of such things." (lights cigar with $10,000 bill)
posted by caution live frogs at 11:10 AM on May 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by caution live frogs at 11:10 AM on May 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
So, one day could you clone a bunch of Picassos and have them toil day and night painting works you sell for millions and get rich?
posted by PHINC at 11:12 AM on May 12, 2015
posted by PHINC at 11:12 AM on May 12, 2015
Record auction prices are nothing more than a sign of insanely unbalanced wealth distribution.
They're also a sign of money laundering, tax evasion, and fraud.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 11:18 AM on May 12, 2015 [11 favorites]
They're also a sign of money laundering, tax evasion, and fraud.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 11:18 AM on May 12, 2015 [11 favorites]
With these big ticket pieces it's important to note that there is extra market scarcity since many have found their ways in to institutions.
The price increase becomes an inevitable side effect, but I do love knowing that many of the most famous pieces have made it to public collections via philanthropic donations. Not sure if that trend will continue so much, though, since so many people use the AAA art market as a very stable place to park their billions.
posted by Theta States at 11:20 AM on May 12, 2015
The price increase becomes an inevitable side effect, but I do love knowing that many of the most famous pieces have made it to public collections via philanthropic donations. Not sure if that trend will continue so much, though, since so many people use the AAA art market as a very stable place to park their billions.
posted by Theta States at 11:20 AM on May 12, 2015
It's kind of sad to me that hedge fund managers and Saudi oil barons are amassing private collections of fine art as status symbols or purely as investments and driving up valuations. It makes having publicly-accessible art less and less likely.
One bit of good news is that many such collectors are interested in exhibiting pieces at major galleries, as those exhibitions can help increase the value of the pieces (and they contribute to status of the collector within the art world, which drives up the value of their whole collection).
posted by whisk(e)y neat at 11:21 AM on May 12, 2015
One bit of good news is that many such collectors are interested in exhibiting pieces at major galleries, as those exhibitions can help increase the value of the pieces (and they contribute to status of the collector within the art world, which drives up the value of their whole collection).
posted by whisk(e)y neat at 11:21 AM on May 12, 2015
Interesting to see in the video (a) the painting itself was not in the room, (b) bidding opened at $100 million (most of the country antique auctions I go to, even if the thing is worth $1,000, nobody in their right mind opens at more than $100), and (c) after the price quickly got to $120 million, all the higher bids were on the phone.
I wonder what the commission is, if any, for "Brett" who was holding the phone for the buyer.
It's kind of sad to me that hedge fund managers and Saudi oil barons are amassing private collections of fine art as status symbols or purely as investments and driving up valuations. It makes having publicly-accessible art less and less likely.
I would not discount the possibility that the plutocrat who bought this actually likes it and wants to enjoy it. Ultimately, the net flow of artwork is in the direction of museums, who are acquiring or receiving gifts, but not selling back into the private market except for minor works they deaccession. On the whole, there is more and more publicly-accessible art in the world. And, from time to time these privately-owned major works do get lent to museums, sometimes for long-term exhibit.
posted by beagle at 11:22 AM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
I wonder what the commission is, if any, for "Brett" who was holding the phone for the buyer.
It's kind of sad to me that hedge fund managers and Saudi oil barons are amassing private collections of fine art as status symbols or purely as investments and driving up valuations. It makes having publicly-accessible art less and less likely.
I would not discount the possibility that the plutocrat who bought this actually likes it and wants to enjoy it. Ultimately, the net flow of artwork is in the direction of museums, who are acquiring or receiving gifts, but not selling back into the private market except for minor works they deaccession. On the whole, there is more and more publicly-accessible art in the world. And, from time to time these privately-owned major works do get lent to museums, sometimes for long-term exhibit.
posted by beagle at 11:22 AM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Reputation laundering. Art is how you go from Johnstown Flood and Homestead Strike to cultural touchstone.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:24 AM on May 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:24 AM on May 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
You know what, guys? I think I'm gonna become an artiste. I spelled it with an "e" because it's more artistic. Somebody hand me a brush! Masterpiecers gonna masterpiece!
posted by I-baLL at 11:34 AM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by I-baLL at 11:34 AM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
You know what, guys? I think I'm gonna become an artiste. I spelled it with an "e" because it's more artistic. Somebody hand me a brush! Masterpiecers gonna masterpiece!
Hope you are ready to work really hard all of your life, then die, then get really valuable!
There are relatively very few living artists pulling jaw-dropping coin.
posted by Theta States at 11:57 AM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hope you are ready to work really hard all of your life, then die, then get really valuable!
There are relatively very few living artists pulling jaw-dropping coin.
posted by Theta States at 11:57 AM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Dunno about that, but I do know that for that money you could pay twenty artists a living wage for twenty years each, and have them do nothing but make art for you that entire time.
posted by tychotesla at 12:06 PM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by tychotesla at 12:06 PM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Jerry Saltz on the sale:
tl;dr: If you didn't see it during the pre-auction exhibit, you'll never get a chance again.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 12:13 PM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
tl;dr: If you didn't see it during the pre-auction exhibit, you'll never get a chance again.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 12:13 PM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Dunno about that, but I do know that for that money you could pay twenty artists a living wage for twenty years each, and have them do nothing but make art for you that entire time.
$179,365,000 / 200 / 20 = $44,841
You're off by an order of magnitude - you could pay two hundred artists a living wage for twenty years each.
posted by suedehead at 12:15 PM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
$179,365,000 / 200 / 20 = $44,841
You're off by an order of magnitude - you could pay two hundred artists a living wage for twenty years each.
posted by suedehead at 12:15 PM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
...but I do know that for that money you could pay twenty artists a living wage for twenty years each, and have them do nothing but make art for you that entire time.
Well, sure, you might get lucky and one of your factory workers manages to spit-out something extraordinary.
Me? If I had the spare coin, and that particular Picasso came to auction, I'd be all over it. Fucking stunning work. And, I'd loan it to a museum. That thing's too amazing to keep it locked away on my private island.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:16 PM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Well, sure, you might get lucky and one of your factory workers manages to spit-out something extraordinary.
Me? If I had the spare coin, and that particular Picasso came to auction, I'd be all over it. Fucking stunning work. And, I'd loan it to a museum. That thing's too amazing to keep it locked away on my private island.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:16 PM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Hah. A real plutocrat keeps actual Algerian women.
posted by chavenet at 12:19 PM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by chavenet at 12:19 PM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
"Hope you are ready to work really hard all of your life, then die, then get really valuable!"
I'm not going to quit my day job, if that's what you're wondering. I'm just going to out-Warhol Andy Warhol. He had talent. I'm going to skim the business by the brim of my breeches.
posted by I-baLL at 12:19 PM on May 12, 2015
I'm not going to quit my day job, if that's what you're wondering. I'm just going to out-Warhol Andy Warhol. He had talent. I'm going to skim the business by the brim of my breeches.
posted by I-baLL at 12:19 PM on May 12, 2015
You're off by an order of magnitude - you could pay two hundred artists a living wage for twenty years each.
Wow.
My mental calculations actually started with "what is the average lifetime income of a US citizen", and then I assumed they had a PhD (in Studio Arts I guess) and so on. But then I went super conservative by saying "twenty years" instead of "entire working life".
posted by tychotesla at 12:31 PM on May 12, 2015
Wow.
My mental calculations actually started with "what is the average lifetime income of a US citizen", and then I assumed they had a PhD (in Studio Arts I guess) and so on. But then I went super conservative by saying "twenty years" instead of "entire working life".
posted by tychotesla at 12:31 PM on May 12, 2015
$179,365,000 / 200 / 20 = $44,841
You're off by an order of magnitude - you could pay two hundred artists a living wage for twenty years each.
Close, but if you think of it as annuity making 6% with 3% inflation, you could pay 347 artists $45k/year for 20 years.
posted by blue_beetle at 12:39 PM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
You're off by an order of magnitude - you could pay two hundred artists a living wage for twenty years each.
Close, but if you think of it as annuity making 6% with 3% inflation, you could pay 347 artists $45k/year for 20 years.
posted by blue_beetle at 12:39 PM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
It makes having publicly-accessible art less and less likely.
There are thousands (millions?) of amazing artists producing lots of amazing art that could be made publicly accessible for cheap. A Picasso is like the Budweiser brand: It's worth ridiculous amounts of money because it's a household name.
posted by clawsoon at 12:55 PM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
There are thousands (millions?) of amazing artists producing lots of amazing art that could be made publicly accessible for cheap. A Picasso is like the Budweiser brand: It's worth ridiculous amounts of money because it's a household name.
posted by clawsoon at 12:55 PM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think we could at least have a decent link to the painting in question.
That is a hideous amount of money for an absolutely stunning piece of work.
posted by adamvasco at 1:23 PM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
That is a hideous amount of money for an absolutely stunning piece of work.
posted by adamvasco at 1:23 PM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Queue discussion on paying the Wholefoods price versus going to Costco
posted by inflatablekiwi at 1:28 PM on May 12, 2015
posted by inflatablekiwi at 1:28 PM on May 12, 2015
Queue discussion on paying the Wholefoods price versus going to Costco
Something something Georges Braque
posted by Sys Rq at 1:48 PM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Something something Georges Braque
posted by Sys Rq at 1:48 PM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
watching an interview with somebody from sotheby right now.
It appears there were eleven bidders active during that last minute. That's eleven bidders with north of 150 million ready to cough up.
That's way north of 1.5 billion...
posted by DreamerFi at 2:02 PM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
It appears there were eleven bidders active during that last minute. That's eleven bidders with north of 150 million ready to cough up.
That's way north of 1.5 billion...
posted by DreamerFi at 2:02 PM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
> It appears there were eleven bidders active during that last minute.
snipers
posted by jfuller at 2:18 PM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
snipers
posted by jfuller at 2:18 PM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
One bit of good news is that many such collectors are interested in exhibiting pieces at major galleries, as those exhibitions can help increase the value of the pieces (and they contribute to status of the collector within the art world, which drives up the value of their whole collection).
Plus there are tax benefits.
posted by BWA at 2:42 PM on May 12, 2015
Plus there are tax benefits.
posted by BWA at 2:42 PM on May 12, 2015
Picasso was 74 when he painted that.
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:27 PM on May 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:27 PM on May 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
See, you may think it's great that more and more work is finding its way into public museums, but (too lazy to look up the related thread from earlier in the week) a lot of museums, at least here in the USA, really only ever show a very small percentage of their holdings.
posted by newdaddy at 5:39 PM on May 12, 2015
posted by newdaddy at 5:39 PM on May 12, 2015
Either I dreamed about this last night or I sleep surfed the Internet.
Either way, I dreamed I was there with the painting.
posted by discopolo at 6:05 PM on May 12, 2015
Either way, I dreamed I was there with the painting.
posted by discopolo at 6:05 PM on May 12, 2015
My 5 year old nephew slapped a Picasso at the Guggenheim. Five fucking years old and the kid has already touched more wealth than I ever will.
posted by srboisvert at 7:28 PM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by srboisvert at 7:28 PM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's kind of sad to me that hedge fund managers and Saudi oil barons are amassing private collections of fine art as status symbols or purely as investments and driving up valuations. It makes having publicly-accessible art less and less likely.
It's kinda sad to me that people are sleeping under freeways, eating out of garbage cans, etc. etc but what can you do? Oh yeah, tax the rich people more and give it to the poor. Oh hey!
you could pay 347 artists $45k/year for 20 years
Well, you could house all the homeless folks for something like negative $12,000 per year, but that seems like as much as a pipe dream. Exceptionalists gotta exceptionalize.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:01 PM on May 12, 2015
It's kinda sad to me that people are sleeping under freeways, eating out of garbage cans, etc. etc but what can you do? Oh yeah, tax the rich people more and give it to the poor. Oh hey!
you could pay 347 artists $45k/year for 20 years
Well, you could house all the homeless folks for something like negative $12,000 per year, but that seems like as much as a pipe dream. Exceptionalists gotta exceptionalize.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:01 PM on May 12, 2015
Fox News Bizarrely Censors $179M Picasso Painting.
The fear of nipples is mighty strong among conservatives. Reminds me of the Lady Justice drapes.
I'm kinda amazed we don't get nipples on magazine covers in the U.S. yet. I was WAY off on that prediction (I claimed it was imminent in 1998.)
I really don't get the fear of naked breasts. If I were a woman in the U.S. I would be furious that a man is allowed walk down the street shirtless and I am not. (As a man, though, it's not really an issue I can bring up ... anywhere but here!)
"Women that cover Rolling Stone have the distinct duty of leaving their nipples at home for the day. Once Janet Jackson brought hers with her and someone had to run up behind her last minute to cover her up."
Rihanna's nipples on the cover of Lui.
Rihanna's next album cover if it were up to Instagram.
Everyone has nipples. They should not be offensive.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:24 PM on May 14, 2015
The fear of nipples is mighty strong among conservatives. Reminds me of the Lady Justice drapes.
I'm kinda amazed we don't get nipples on magazine covers in the U.S. yet. I was WAY off on that prediction (I claimed it was imminent in 1998.)
I really don't get the fear of naked breasts. If I were a woman in the U.S. I would be furious that a man is allowed walk down the street shirtless and I am not. (As a man, though, it's not really an issue I can bring up ... anywhere but here!)
"Women that cover Rolling Stone have the distinct duty of leaving their nipples at home for the day. Once Janet Jackson brought hers with her and someone had to run up behind her last minute to cover her up."
Rihanna's nipples on the cover of Lui.
Rihanna's next album cover if it were up to Instagram.
Everyone has nipples. They should not be offensive.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:24 PM on May 14, 2015
Here's what other great art would look like if Fox censored it.
posted by clawsoon at 3:55 AM on May 15, 2015
posted by clawsoon at 3:55 AM on May 15, 2015
Everyone has nipples. They should not be offensive.
Only the useful ones are.
posted by Etrigan at 4:54 AM on May 15, 2015
Only the useful ones are.
posted by Etrigan at 4:54 AM on May 15, 2015
Only the useful ones are.
Are you calling men's nipples useless? The Great Nippulini disagrees.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:34 AM on May 20, 2015
Are you calling men's nipples useless? The Great Nippulini disagrees.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:34 AM on May 20, 2015
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