Casino sells eleven works by Picasso to make room for diversity

The Bellagio hotel in the American gambling city of Las Vegas has sold eleven paintings and other works by Picasso for 100 million dollars (more than 85 million euros). Parent company MGM Resorts wants to use the proceeds to buy a more diverse collection, with more works made by women, people of color, LGBTI artists or artists with disabilities.

Five of the paintings sold hung in the hotel restaurant for years. Twelve other works by Picasso still hang in that restaurant.

Mistress and muse

The auction took place two days before the Spanish artist’s 140th birthday. Auction house Sotheby’s had the artworks under the hammer. The auction took place at the Bellagio hotel itself. It was the first time that the auction house from Las Vegas held an auction of this magnitude.

Woman in red-orange beret raised $40.5 million, about ten million more than estimated. It is a depiction of Picasso’s mistress and muse Marie-Thérèse Walter which he made in 1938. The portraits Man and Child on Bust of a man were worth $24.4 million and $9.5 million, respectively.

It has not been disclosed who bought the paintings.

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