Rare Blue Period Picasso unveiling reveals hidden painting for first time

PanARMENIAN.Net - The finest Blue Period work by Pablo Picasso to come to auction in a generation and a seminal Waterlilies by Claude Monet will be offered in Sotheby’s Evening Sale of Impressionist & Modern Art in New York on 5 November 2015. Both works are on offer from the remarkable collection of William I. Koch – American entrepreneur, collector and America’s Cup winner, Art Daily reports.

Picasso painted the stunning La Gommeuse in 1901, emboldened by the success of his first exhibition in Paris but reeling from his friend Carlos Casagemas’s suicide. The work exemplifies the poignancy, introspection and sexual charge of this seminal moment in the history of Modernism (estimate upon request).

Monet’s exquisite Nymphéas, painted circa 1908, hails from the celebrated series depicting his lily pond at Giverny (estimate $30/50 million). The series dominated the artist’s later years and is now seen as his crowning achievement.

The paintings will be on public view in Sotheby’s London galleries from 10–15 October during Frieze Week, before returning to New York for exhibition beginning 30 October.

Simon Shaw, Co-Head of Sotheby’s Worldwide Impressionist & Modern Art Department, said: “Above all others, Picasso’s Blue Period is prized as his breakthrough – this is the moment Picasso becomes Picasso. With her dreamy gaze and frank sensuality, the cabaret dancer in La Gommeuse ushers in a new visual idiom for the 20th century. Exploring themes which would underpin Picasso’s work for the next seven decades, the painting stands squarely between the bohemian nightlife of Toulouse-Lautrec and the raw expressionism of Munch and Schiele.”

Mr. Shaw continued: “La Gommeuse and Nymphéas hung together in the salon of Bill Koch’s beautiful home. These are two icons of art history from one of the greatest American collections ever assembled – a testament to Mr. Koch’s unique connoisseurship, which we are honored to celebrate this fall at Sotheby’s.”