Art News

Christie’s London Sale Hits Target as Unseen Picasso Sells for $13 Million

LONDON (REUTERS).- Pablo Picasso once again proved his appeal to wealthy collectors when the artist’s portrait of his second wife Jacqueline was the top lot at Christie’s impressionist and modern art sale in London on Tuesday. “Tete de femme (Jacqueline)”, painted in 1963, fetched 8.1 million pounds ($13 million), around double its presale estimate of 3-4 million pounds. The sale price includes buyer’s premium whereas the estimate does not. The painting has not been seen in public since 1967 and has been in the same collection for nearly 30 years. Jacqueline had an unusually short neck and it is said that Picasso would jokingly exaggerate its size in his portraits — as in this elongated example.