The Wall Street Journal reports that, after five years and a €52 million renovation, the Picasso Museum in Paris will reopen on October 25th. The museum, which is housed in a 17th century mansion built by a favorite of Louis XIV, was founded by the city in 1985 to house what would become the largest Picasso collection in the world. Closed for renovation in 2009, the museum was meant to reopen in 2011 but pushed back the date twice thanks to delays and controversies such as the museum’s decision to dismiss its director Anne Baldassari. (more…)

An article in the New York Times reports that Apple has turned to Picasso for inspiration. As part of Apple Academy, the company’s internal training program, one instructor used Picasso’s lithographic series “The Bull” as an example of the streamlining and simplicity in design for which Apple strives. “The Bull” consists of 11 prints, each of which features a bull that becomes increasingly more abstract and simplified as the series goes on. The article features a side-by-side comparison of “The Bull” with several generations of Apple’s computer mice, illustrating the similarities between Picasso’s and Apple’s approach. (more…)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present an exhibition in the fall featuring major cubist works, including pieces by artists such as Georges Braque, Fernand Leger, and Pablo Picasso. The 79 artworks that will be exhibited in the show were donated to the Met last springby Leonard Lauder. The show will be the first time that Lauder’s gift, which is valued at over $1 billion, will be exhibited as a whole; it will run from October 20th to February 16th, 2015.

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The Cincinnati Art Museum has announced that Cameron Kitchin will become the museum’s new director on October 1st. A graduate of Harvard University and William & Mary, Kitchin has directed museums for the last twelve years, including six years at the Brooks Museum of Art in Memphis. As director of the Cincinnati Art Museum, Kitchin will oversee a collection that includes works by Édouard Manet, Pablo Picasso, and Edward Hopper. (more…)

Pablo Picasso’s never before exhibited collage Portrait of a Lady will be exhibited for the first time at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.  The work was acquired last December, and will go on view next month as part of the Birth of a Museum exhibition.  “Being a collage, it’s one of the key elements that Picasso used and it’s not something that is always seen in other museums. It’s a very distinct style that he developed at that time.”  Says Louvre project manager Hissa Al Dhaheri. (more…)

A nanoscale study of paint chips from works by Pablo Picasso has strengthened historians’ claims that he may have been one of the first master painters to shift over from traditional oil paints to house paints.  Researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory and Art Institute of Chicago discovered levels of zinc oxide and iron in Picasso’s work that matched the levels of 1930’s household paint brand Ripolin.  “We have opened the nanoworld to culture heritage.” Says researcher Volker Rose . (more…)

Pablo Picasso, Femme Assise Près D’Une Fenêtre, via Sotheby’s

Last night, Sotheby’s London hosted the first of the spring’s Modern Art auctions, with a number of works quickly soaring to high prices while others struggled to meet their estimates, most notably the centerpiece of the auction, Pablo Picasso’s “Femme Assise Près d’une Fenêtre.” (more…)

Romanian authorities have arrested three men suspected of the theft of seven paintings by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Paul Gaugin, and others from a Rotterdam museum.  The paintings were stolen last October in an overnight break-in. While the works have yet to be recovered, police believe that they are hidden in an undisclosed location in Romania.   (more…)

A 1932 painting of Pablo Picasso’s mistress is expected to sell for as much as $56 million at auction next month.  Femme assise pres d’une fenetre has been placed on sale by Sotheby’s auction house, and is guaranteed to sell courtesy of a third-party, “irrevocable” bid.  The 61-lot auction on February 5th will also include works by Claude Monet and Joan Miró, among other notable surrealist and impressionist painters, and is valued at $240 million.

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The first concrete murals done by Pablo Picasso are in danger of destruction following severe damages to the buildings that house them.  The two buildings were severely damaged in the terrorist attacks of July 2011 in the Norwegian city of Oslo, and government employees have voiced concerns that they may require demolition.  “If the buildings were demolished and the murals integrated into new ones or brought to another site, they would no longer be the works Picasso intended,” says Jørn Holme, the head of the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. (more…)

Uriel Landeros, the Houston man accused of vandalizing Pablo Picasso’s Woman in a Red Chair, has surrendered to authorities at the United States-Mexico border near McAllen, TX.  Landeros allegedly defaced the painting while it was on view at the Menil Collection in Houston with spray paint.  “I don’t regret anything that I’ve done.”  He said in an interview last fall. (more…)

In the last several months, the heirs of Pablo Picasso have taken steps to consolidate the process for authenticating the late artist’s works, creating a family board responsible for authenticating all Picasso works moving forward.  “People have been asking why they have to go to two places just to have a work authenticated. That is why we took the decision of sending that letter to the art world. The family board is the only authority—it’s quite clear”  says Picasso’s son Bernard. (more…)

New York art dealers R. Scott Cook and his wife Sousanna A.E. Cook have been ordered to pay $17.96 million in damages to collector George Ball after allegedly fleeing the country with 11 of his works, including pieces by Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Henri Matisse.  Ball claims that the couple had agreed to sell his pieces at Christie’s on his behalf, but instead left the country for France without ever listing the works.

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Beginning in 1945, Château Mouton Rothschild has commissioned various artists, from Pablo Picasso to Francis Bacon, to create a graphic for its labels. Now it has asked Jeff Koons to design the label for 2010 label of its Pauillac first growth. Koons is one of the world’s most expensive living artists, and has designed an image of The Birth of Venus and a sailing ship under sunny skies. (more…)

Wassily Kandinsky, Studie für Improvisation 8 (1909)  which sold for a record breaking $23,042,500, image courtesy Christie’s

Despite a nor’easter last night in New York, Christie’s had a full house for its Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale, which boasted a sale total of $204, 800,000 with just 48 of 69 lots sold.  The sales achieved were not always consistent but very high numbers were reached during many bids.  The value sold by lot was 80%, with most of the works that did sell achieving their high estimate or beyond.  Head of the Department, Brooke Lampley, declared it a “strong sale” in the post auction press conference.

Sale room at Christie’s, photo by ArtObserved

The major excitement of the sale came with the record-breaking price of $23 million for Kandinsky’s Studie für Improvisation 8  – the highest price ever paid at auction for a work by the artist. The painting is an early figurative example of the artist’s transition to abstraction. (more…)

Kees Van Dongen, Deux Nus Aux Ballons Courtesy Sotheby’s
LOT SOLD. 1,314,500 USD  (Hammer Price with Buyer’s Premium)

Sotheby’s concluded its Impressionist  & Modern day sale today, with a sale total (including buyer’s premium) of $39,910,775. The auction house sold 73% of lots in the morning session and 62% in the afternoon session.

Pablo Picasso, Tête d’homme Courtesy Sotheby’s
LOT SOLD. 1,142,500 USD  (Hammer Price with Buyer’s Premium) (more…)

Pablo Picasso, Femme à la Fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse) courtesy Sotheby’s

Christie’s Impressionist and Modern sale will commence this evening; due to the destruction from the hurricane, Sotheby’s rescheduled its Impressionist sale from November 5th to tomorrow, Thursday the 8th. Airport closures and power outages worried many that the international collecting crowd would not be able to attend. In a season that boasts over a possible billion dollars in revenue and a possible record breaking year at auction, postponement was inevitable.

Both houses are flush with important and iconic works by a plethora of leading artists such as Picasso, Monet, Kandinsky, Miro, Brancusi and Cézanne.

Wassily Kandinsky, Studie für Improvisation 8 courtesy Christie’s
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Pablo Picasso – The Maids of Homer (1957), courtesy The Guggenheim Museum

Pablo Picasso, whose relentless explorations of form, representation and perspective fundamentally shifted the art world as one of the defining minds of the 20th century avant-garde.  Moving among a broad variety of approaches, techniques and media, the Spanish painter and sculptor created a vast body of work that defined him as a singular talent and powerful voice for years to come.  Now, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City is exhibitinf a massive exhibition of Picasso works, focusing on the black and white works.

Pablo Picasso – Woman Ironing (La repasseuse), Bateau-Lavoir, Paris, spring 1904,  courtesy The Guggenheim Museum
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Sotheby’s has several high-profile works being offered in its November sales. Works from the Embiricos estate are expected to bring $30 million; among them Francis Bacon‘s “Study for Head of Isabel Rawsthorne” has a presale estimate of $9 – $12 million. Picasso‘s “Nature Morte aux Tulipes” from 1932 is being offered from a separate unidentified “important private collection” at $35-50 million, under an irrevocable bid. (more…)

‬Police in Spain arrested four people involved in the sale of a counterfeit copy of Picasso‘s “Buste de Jeune Garçon”, which would have potentially fetched up to $2 million.

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Picasso vandal identified as Uriel Landeros, a 22 year-old University of Houston student.  He has been charged with criminal mischief and felony graffiti.

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Marc Chagall, Noce et Musique (1939) which sold for £2.5 million

Last night at Sotheby’s marked the opening night of three straight weeks of art auctions in London. The evening achieved a few exceptional and even record breaking sales, yet it did not compare with the astonishing May auctions held previously this year in New York. Out of the 48 lots offered only 33 of them sold – a sell through rate of 69%. Still, Sotheby’s total sales for the night reached £75 million – above their low estimate of £73 million.

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Original Picasso defaced at Houston’s Menil Collection. A video of the vandalism, showing the man stenciling the word “Conquista” and a bull onto the painting, was posted on YouTube last week.

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‪‬Gwyneth Paltrow to possibly play Pablo Picasso‘s lover Dora Maar in upcoming film, “Guernica 33 Days,” the €8 million Spanish film includes Antonio Banderas as Picasso and is scheduled for a May, 2013 release

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