Picasso Paintings Sold at Las Vegas Auction for Over $100 Million

An auction in Las Vegas consisting of nearly a dozen Pablo Picasso paintings and works hauled in over $100 million over the weekend, Reuters reports. 

The Sotheby’s auction held on Saturday sold 11 Picasso works as part of a collaboration with MGM Resorts, which was looking to move a number of the acclaimed painter’s pieces in an effort to diversify its expansive collection. The MGM Resorts Fine Arts Collection features about 900 works from 200 artists. 

The auction took place at the Bellagio hotel where the pieces had been on display. The 1938 painting “Femme au beret rouge-orange,” translated to “Woman in a reddish-orange hat,” from Marie-Therese Walter, Picasso’s lover and muse, was sold for $40.5 million, the highest winning bid of the auction. According to CNN, it was initially estimated to sell for between $20 and $30 million. The piece can be viewed below. 

“Homme et enfant,” and “Buste d’homme” went for $24.4 million and $9.5 million, respectively. Inspired by Edouard Manet’s 1863 painting by the same name, “Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe,” sold for $2.1 million, over four times its estimate. A sculpted white pitcher known as “Aiguière – Visage” was initially valued at between $60,000 and $80,000, but up going for a surprising $315,000.     

None of the buyers’ names were disclosed. 

An MGM spokesperson said the MGM Resorts Fine Arts Collection plans on replacing the auctioned items inside the Bellagio restaurant with an additional 12 Picasso artworks.