Picasso’s Sleeping Mistress, German Art Add $99 Million to London Auctions

A Pablo Picasso painting of his mistress Marie-Therese Walters and a collection of German art from 1960's to 1970's may add as much as 60 million pounds ($99 million) to London's June Art Auction.

Picasso's Canvas "June fille endormie", Showing Marie-Therese Walters snoozing on her folded arms, is estimated to fetch 9 million pounds at Christies International. The Group of 59 German contemporary works has an upper estimate of 47.5 million pounds at Southey's.

Owners of the valuable 20th century trophies have become more confident about .... Click here to read the rest of the article.

Major Picasso exhibition begins U.S. tour

"The 176-work exhibit also highlights Picasso's depictions of his numerous
mistresses and muses, including Dora Maar, a the French surrealist
photographer."
Major Picasso exhibition begins U.S. tour

Picasso and Linocuts

After World War II, Picasso’s proclivity as a printmaker increased substantially, further demonstrating his intuitive ability to recognize the endless possibilities inherent in any medium in which he chose to work.

Of particular fascination to Picasso was the process of the Linoleum cut. Holding true to his methodology of adapting a chosen medium to his own language and individual approach, Picasso took this most basic printing method (an art form so simplistic that it is often a project approached by pre-schoolers) to such extremes that it challenged his printers to what was considered the limits of their skills as craftsmen.

Picasso’s real interest in the linocut began in 1951 when he was seventy years old, and lasted for most of twenty years in his work. During this period, Picasso not only makes reference to his own previous work, but also characteristically develops images of other artists (Rembrandt, El Greco, Cranch, and Manet), until they are Picasso’s invention in 1959 of the one-block technique of linocut printing enabled him to achieve brilliantly colored and richly textured works on paper. Like woodblock printing the linoleum is cut away from the flat surface of the block except those areas that, when inked and printed, articulate the components of the composition. Softer, more supple and lighter in weight than wood, linoleum can be cut, gouged, and slashed with greater speed and much less effort than wood. This material and process suited Picasso’s temperament well: by taking something away he was also creating, a contradiction the artist reveled in. The linocut images present to the buyer a rare opportunity to own a color work by this 20th century master.

Femme au Fauteuil

Femme au Fauteuil, 1949, is considered Picasso’s graphic masterpiece in the medium of lithography. “In November 1948, Picasso purchased an elaborately embroidered leather and sheep’s wool coat while in Poland attending the communists-sponsored Peace Conference. Upon his return from Poland, Picasso felt compelled to create. The combination of the newly acquired coat, and an extraordinary antique armchair which occupied Picasso’s studio, became the inspiration for the Armchair Woman (femme au Fauteuil). Francoise, Picasso’s lover at the time, was the model for this exemplary work.

Picasso's Women!

PICASSO and HIS WOMEN EXHIBITION Starts 3/11