"Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not" said Picasso about his leaps of imagination. And yet again, his seamless imagination has fetched mind boggling amount. On Monday, in an auction event held at Christie's in New York, Pablo Picasso's "Femmes d'Alger" (Women of Algiers) version 'O' was sold to an unidentified bidder at a whopping $179.4 million (about 115 million pounds). Christie's was expecting the artwork to receive the valuation of $140 millions, but it magnificently fetched extra 40 millions.
Les femmes d'Alger - one of Picasso's Magnus opus creations
Picasso's "Femmes d'Alger" is a series of 15 paintings and drawings, which he created from 1954 to 1955. Picasso was inspired by his special interest in the 19th century French artist Eugène Delacroix and influenced by his lifetime friend and rival Henri Matisse."When Matisse died, he left his odalisques to me as a legacy" once joked Picasso.
All of these artworks are designated with the letters A to O. The entire versions was once owned by Victor and Sally Ganz from the Galerie Louise Leiris in Paris. The valuation of the total series was $212,500 in 1956 (almost 90 times lower than today's version 'O's' valuation alone). The same version 'O' painting was sold for $31.9 million in November 1997 as part of the Ganz's collection at Christie's in New York.
Other highlights of Christie's 'Looking Forward to the Past' sales NY-2015
The sale featured several masterpieces based on 'Modernism', the key theme of the sale. The action sale raised the enormous amount of $706 million. Christie's termed it as a 'New Epoch' in Art recognition. Affluent industrialist and traditional buyers chased scarce artworks, leading to an intensely aggressive bidding.
Many works were bought by unidentified buyers through art dealers. "L'homme au doigt" (Pointing Man), a 1947 sculpture by the Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti, received $141.3 million. It was also purchased by an unidentified buyer through a dealer, setting the record for the highest valuation ever fetched by a sculpture. Nine other works crossed the 50 million bar and 21 works crossed 10 million valuation.
