''Nude, Green Leaves and Bust'' () is a 1932 oil on canvas painting by
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
, featuring his mistress
Marie-Thérèse Walter.
The painting was in the personal collection of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
art collectors Sidney and
Frances Brody 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 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 relationsh ...
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 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, New York, United States. The fair included exhibitio ...
as the excuse to ship the painting outside
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. After the 1940
Nazi invasion of France, on reaching New York via
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
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 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, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, which won the rights to auction the collection against London-based
Sotheby's
Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
. The collection as a whole was valued at over $150 million, while the work was originally expected to earn $80 million at auction.
Eight bidders were 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 th ...
, the price reached $106.5 million.
When inflation is ignored, the painting broke the record price for an artwork sold at auction until it was surpassed by the selling of ''
The Scream
''The Scream'' is an art composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The Norwegian name of the piece is ('Screaming, Scream'), and the German title under which it was first exhibited is ' ('The Scream of Nature'). The agonize ...
'' on May 2, 2012, for $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 record payment for a work is approximately United States dollar, US$450.3 million (which includes Commission (remuneration), commission) for the work ''Salvator Mundi (Leonardo), ...
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nude, Green Leaves and Bust
1932 paintings
Nude paintings of women
Paintings by Pablo Picasso
Portraits of women
20th-century portraits