Picasso Fetches $41.5 Million At Auction

A Picasso painting sold for $41.5 million on Thursday at a Sotheby’s Auction.

The painting, a 1932 portrait of the iconic artist’s mistress titled Nature Morte Aux Tulipes, was one of 9 Picasso paintings that went up for sale this week. Another Picasso painting, Femme a la Fenetre, sold for $17.2 million.

Picasso’s painting’s helped bring the auction’s total up to $163 million, but Sotheby’s said that the auction total was still below expectations.

According to Reuters, Sotheby’s was expecting to bring in at least $170 million during its auction of Impressionist and Modern Art, but only one-third of the 67 lots on offer were sold.

Simon Shaw, Sotheby’s head of Impressionist and modern art in New York, said that this week’s sale demonstrated “that in this market there continues to be a search for quality … (There was) active participation from today’s truly global art market … (but) there remains some scrutiny over estimates.”

One Picasso painting that failed to meet its estimate was Plante De Tomate. The painting was estimated to sell for $10 to $15 million but failed to draw a $9 million bid. Picasso’s Le Viol, however, exceeded expectations. Le Viol had an estimated price of $5 million but ended up selling for more than $13 million.

Here’s Picasso’s $41.5 million painting.