Eleven original Picasso paintings were auctioned off on Saturday at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas as part of a Sotheby’s auction.
The paintings were previously held in the hotel’s Michelin-star restaurant, Picasso, which is inspired by the artist’s life and work.
The eatery will continue to showcase 12 additional Picasso paintings.
Picasso’s 1938 painting Fenne au Béret Rouge-Orange, which translates to “Woman in a reddish-orange hat” which showcases the artist’s lover and muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter, was the auctions’s highest-selling artwork at $40.5 million USD.
Homme et Enfant and Buste d’Homme were sold for $24.4 million USD and $9.5 million USD, respectively.
Then were also smaller ceramic works such as “Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe,” which sold for $2.1 million, over four times its estimate.
Sotheby’s did not disclose the names of the buyers.
The auction also coincided with the artist’s 140th birthday, and is considered “the largest and most significant” fine art sale to ever take place in Las Vegas.
