No Sale At Chupi Forces Julian Schnabel To Sell His Picasso

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Apr 3rd 2009 at 10:02PM

Artist-turned-director Julian Schnabel has a problem, he can't sell his apartments. We've discussed Schnabel's folly, the rose-colored Palazzo Chupi multiple times and a recent Huffington Post piece revealed that the penthouse has now been discounted from $32 million to $22 million. The real estate downturn is prompting Schabel to part with one of his dearest possessions, his prized Picasso. Schnabel bought Femme au Chapeau way back in 1989. The nearly six-foot canvas painted when Picasso was nearly 89 mirrors Schnabel's own penchant for creating outsize works.

Schnabel has had the painting in his home for 20 years and the New York Times reports that it most recently hung in his living room in Palazzo Chupi. It will be sold at the Christie's auction on May 6 and is estimated to bring $8 million to $12 million. Schnabel told the Times that the sale of the painting will take care of a loan he took out with Commerce Bank that used part of his art collection, including the Picasso, as collateral.

Tags: julian schnabel, JulianSchnabel, palazzo chupi, PalazzoChupi, picasso