''Nude, Green Leaves and Bust'' (french: Nu au Plateau de Sculpteur) is a 1932 painting by
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
, featuring his mistress
Marie-Thérèse Walter
Marie-Thérèse Walter (13 July 1909 – 20 October 1977) was a French model and lover of Pablo Picasso from 1927 to about 1935 and the mother of their daughter Maya Widmaier-Picasso. Their relationship began when she was seventeen years old; he w ...
.
The painting was in the personal collection of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
art collectors Sidney and
Frances Brody
Frances McNeil, also writing as Frances Brody, is an English novelist and playwright, and has written extensively for radio.
Early life
McNeil was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, where she now lives. She studied at Ruskin College, Oxford and ha ...
for nearly six decades. It sold at auction for US$106.5 million, the third highest price for a piece of artwork sold at auction at the time.
Background
''Nude, Green Leaves and Bust'' is one of a series of portraits that Picasso painted of his mistress and muse
Marie-Thérèse Walter
Marie-Thérèse Walter (13 July 1909 – 20 October 1977) was a French model and lover of Pablo Picasso from 1927 to about 1935 and the mother of their daughter Maya Widmaier-Picasso. Their relationship began when she was seventeen years old; he w ...
from 1932. The vibrant blue and lilac canvas is more than tall.
At the time, Picasso was in an exclusive contractual relationship with noted impressionist and post-impressionist French-Jewish
art dealer
An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art.
An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationshi ...
Paul Rosenberg, who bought the painting direct from his friend. With the increasing tones of an approaching war, in the late 1930s Rosenberg started to distribute works from his 2,000+ piece collection around the world, and used the
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...
as the excuse to ship the painting outside
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. After the 1940
Nazi invasion of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...
, on reaching New York via
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
in September 1940, Rosenberg opened a new branch of his noted gallery on East 57th street and put the painting back on display.
From there it was bought by the Brodys in 1951, and was publicly exhibited only once in 1961, to commemorate Picasso's 80th birthday.
Auction
Frances Brody
Frances McNeil, also writing as Frances Brody, is an English novelist and playwright, and has written extensively for radio.
Early life
McNeil was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, where she now lives. She studied at Ruskin College, Oxford and ha ...
died in November 2009. On May 4, 2010, the painting was sold at
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, who won the rights to auction the collection against London-based
Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
. The collection as a whole was valued at over US$150 million, while the work was originally expected to earn $80 million at auction.
There were eight bidders at the auction house, while the winning bid was taken via telephone for .
Including the
buyer's premium
In auctions, the buyer's premium is a charge in addition to the hammer price (i.e. the winning bid announced) of an auction item, or lot. The winning bidder is required to pay both the hammer price and the percentage of that price called for by the ...
, the price reached US$106.5 million.
When inflation is ignored, the painting broke the record price for an art work sold at auction until it was surpassed by the selling of ''
The Scream
''The Scream'' is a composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images of art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including ...
'' on May 2, 2012 for US$120 million.
See also
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List of most expensive paintings
This is a list of the highest known prices paid for paintings. The current record price is approximately US$450.3 million (which includes commission), paid for Leonardo da Vinci's ''Salvator Mundi'' (). The painting was sold in November 2017, t ...
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nude, Green Leaves and Bust
1932 paintings
Nude art
Paintings by Pablo Picasso
Portraits of women
20th-century portraits