A painting by the world’s most famous artist, Pablo Picasso called ‘Femme nue couchée’ has fetched $67.5 million at Sotheby’s auction house in New York.
The painting, which was made in 1932, was a surrealistic depiction of his muse Marie-Thérèse Walter.
“Femme nue couchée,” which translates from French to “Nude Reclining Woman,” was estimated to sell in excess of $60 million according to a prediction made by Sotheby’s.
It comes after another painting by Picasso called “Tete de femme (Fernande)” became the artist’s most expensive bronze ever sold at $48.48 million as per Christie’s auction.
Marie-Thérèse had a secret relationship with Picasso when he was still married to Russian-Ukrainian ballet dancer Olga Khokhlova, who was his first wife.
Despite having an age difference of 28 years, their romance blossomed and Marie-Thérèse became his model for a number of paintings and sculptures and gave birth to his daughter, Maya Widmaier-Picasso.
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According to the Tate Modern museum, Picasso silenced his critics, who questioned “whether he was an artist of the past rather than the future,” with the success of ‘Femme nue couchée’.
“Tete de femme (Fernande)” was purchased by Amy Cappellazzo, the former head of Sotheby’s global fine art division at an auction in New York.
In 2015, the Spaniard’s “Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘0’)” had set the record at $179.4 million, making it the most expensive work of 20th Century artwork ever sold until Warhol’s iconic portrait broke his record.
(With inputs from agencies)
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