A Picasso original is being sold in South Africa – this is how much it’s going for
An original artwork by Pablo Picasso is going on auction in Cape Town this week, and could fetch R8 million.
The artwork, “Tête” (Head) (recto and verso), is a double-sided artwork, or recto verso, meaning front and back, and is signed on both sides.
It features two drawings of a man done on the same day, with colourful wax crayon used on the front, and a dark ink and wash on the back.
The artwork will go on sale at the Strauss & Co International Sale today.
While the starting bid is currently R 5.6 million, it will likely fetch an estimate of R6 million to R8 million.
Senior Art Specialist at Strauss & Co, Ian Hunter, told Newzroom Afrika that although the gallery often receives prints of Picasso’s works for their auctions, this artwork is especially exciting.
“To have an original work, and a double-sided work such as this… we’re very excited about it,” Hunter said.
“Picasso was a man of huge energy. He was prolific, and he was reinventing the visual language of the 20th century throughout probably six decades of production.”
The work, which is dated as 20 July 1967, was likely executed at Chateau Vauvenargues, in Mougins in the South of France.
According to Strauss & Co, “1967 was the year that Picasso lost his studio in Paris on the Rue des Grands-Augustins where he had painted Guernica (1937).”
“That year, Roland Penrose organised a Picasso exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London, which later moved to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.”
“Picasso’s drawings from that period serve as evidence that he sketched almost daily while working on large-scale pieces such as The Kiss (1967) and a series of nudes.”
Hunter explained that seeing a dual-sided Picasso, like Tête, is not necessarily surprising.
“I don’t think it’s that rare because he was actually making notes for paintings, making constructions of compositions for graphic works.”
“We’ve seen the etchings and the lithographs as well and the works on ceramic, so I think he was working on a design concept and a short hand to simplify something as simple as a male face.”
This auction will generate an estimate of over R20 million in sales, and features other historic artworks from famous artists.
For example, “La Fenêtre à Paris” (The Window in Paris), by the Russian/French artists, Marc Chagall, will also fetch an estimated R6 million to R8 million.
The featured artist, Scottish-born Jack Vettriano, has three oil paintings for sale in the auction, with the lowest starting bid being an impressive R650,000.
Below are the pieces being sold at the International Sale this week which are estimated to go for over R1 million.
Tête (Head) (recto and verso)
- Pablo Picasso
- Lot Estimate: R6 million – R8 million
La Fenêtre à Paris (The Window in Paris)
- Marc Chagall
- Lot Estimate: R6 million – R8 million
The Proposal
- Jack Vettriano
- Lot Estimate: R1.2 million – R1.5 million
Good Information
- Jack Vettriano
- Lot Estimate: R1.6 million – R1.8 million
Untitled, Turbulent Times
- Shirin Neshat
- Lot Estimate: R1.2 million – R1.5 million
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