A celebrated artwork by Picasso, titled “Femme à la montre,” is poised to command a price of over $120 million in an upcoming autumn auction.
Scheduled for display during a two-day Sotheby’s event in New York this November, the painting is part of Emily Fisher Landau’s soon-to-be-auctioned collection.
The artwork, with dimensions of 51¼ x 38 inches (130 x 96.5 cm), features Picasso’s romantic partner and “golden muse,” Marie-Thérèse Walter, a frequent subject in his oeuvre.
The painting originates from a notably productive period in Picasso’s life, explored in a comprehensive exhibition by the Musée Picasso in Paris and London’s Tate Modern in 2018.
In a press release, Julian Dawes, Sotheby’s Head of Impressionist & Modern Art for the Americas, extolled the virtues of the piece, stating, “’Femme à la Montre’ is an unqualified masterpiece. Created in 1932—known as Picasso’s ‘annus mirabilis’—the painting vibrates with exuberant, deliberate energy. Its vibrant primary hues leap off the towering canvas.”
Picasso encountered Walter in 1927 in Paris when she was just 17, while he was then married to his first wife, Olga Khokhlova, a Russian-Ukrainian ballet dancer. Walter would later inspire many of Picasso’s most coveted works in various mediums.
As Picasso’s career evolved, his emotional connection with Walter became increasingly evident in his art, a sentiment culminating in his first major retrospective and ultimately dissolving his marriage.
Crafted in August 1932 shortly after the retrospective at the Galerie Georges Petit in Paris concluded, the artwork is thought to reflect a liberation from the secrecy surrounding his romantic relationship. According to Sotheby’s, Picasso deployed a radiant palette and meticulous attention to detail, resulting in a composition that is “both intricately complex and profoundly harmonious.”
Both Picasso and Walter passed away in 1973 and 1977, respectively.
The painting is among approximately 120 pieces in Fisher Landau’s collection, an esteemed contemporary art collector who passed away earlier this year at 102, as reported by The Art Newspaper.
The collection, also featuring works by Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol, Willem de Kooning, and Georgia O’Keeffe is projected to bring in over $400 million in total.
Fisher Landau took up serious art collection after an insurance settlement from a 1969 armed theft of her jewelry in New York. “Even though Lloyds of London paid up, it was irreplaceable,” she said, noting the insurance money served as seed capital for her art collection.
Last year, another Picasso painting of Walter, depicting her as a tentacled marine creature, sold for $67.5 million at Sotheby’s in New York.
Other Picasso paintings featuring Walter have fetched remarkable sums, including “Femme assise près d’une fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse)” which sold for $103.41 million in 2021, and “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust,” which sold for $106.5 million in 2010.
In 2015, Picasso’s “Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’)” shattered records by selling at Christie’s in New York for $179.4 million, the highest auction price for an artwork at that time.
As the auction world anticipates the sale of Picasso’s “Femme à la montre,” the work stands as a compelling symbol of both artistic genius and turbulent love. With its rich history and captivating narrative, the painting not only underscores Picasso’s undying influence but also brings to light the complexities of his relationships and personal life. As Emily Fisher Landau’s distinguished collection prepares to go under the hammer, the art world waits with bated breath to see if this masterpiece will indeed redefine auction records and once again elevate the enduring legacy of Picasso.
