Rockefeller's Picasso Gets Back to It's Roots
To say that $115.1M ($102M+buyer's premium) is a disappointment beggars the imagination. Many thought #PabloPicasso's #RosePeriod masterpiece would fetch over $130M and were feeling a bit let down when it did not.
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Let's be clear though, "Fillette a la corbeille fleurie" (1902), the pubescent nude child #Picasso painted when he was 21, did sell for a TON of money... And, it was part of the even more impressive total of $646M auction of the David & Peggy #Rockefellercollection, appropriately housed at @christiesinc next door to @rockcenternyc. Further, the proceeds are being donated to charities favored by the couple during their lifetimes.
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#Picasso referred to the sitter (or, in this case, stander) as "Linda". This is probably a nick-name, as "Linda" translates to "Pretty" in his native Spanish tongue. And pretty she is, although she also simultaneously challenges our social mores and sense of prudish propriety. In the age of #MeToo, the skein of Picasso's visual testament reveal a snapshot of where society once was versus where we find ourselves now.
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Turn of the century Paris was a brutal place for the poor, particularly for children. Landlords habitually would rent good homes to the childless, leaving couples with children to starve in rat-infested quarters (as noted by the Hygenist De Mesnil). George Piart writes, that the "interminable martyrdom of tenants" provided an "encouragement to infanticide".
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#Picasso, by contrast, depicts "Linda" not as a necessarily sexual object, despite being laid bare and for sale. Instead, "pretty" is turned in a wooden juxtaposition of Chastity and corruption. While Picasso was known for his sexual proclivities in works which both precede and follow this work, they seem absent here. She is objectified, but not sexualized.
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The irony of poverty versus wealth is not lost. The new owner of this work is exceedingly wealthy, as are the Rockefeller family. However, in choosing to donate the proceeds of this sale to charity, perhaps Picasso's gentility and sensitivity toward this young girl can be seen as coming full circle.
(Text by Reed V. Horth for BCAC)
#art #artdealer #arthistory #wallstreet #christies#wealth #charity #forex #NewYork