Andrew Lloyd Webber to Sell Picasso for Christie's

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Mar 17th 2010 at 10:02PM

Andrew Lloyd Webber is sending a "Blue Period" Picasso canvas under the gavel in June. A painting of an absinthe drinker, the composer has chosen Christie's as the auction house, with the proceeds going to Webber's charity. The Picasso could fetch as much as $60.9 million, a higher estimate than any other piece in Europe so far this year. Last year, Picasso was the top seller at auction, generating $121 million in sales, according to Artprice.

The painting, entitled "Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto (The Absinthe Drinker)," is a study of a young Spanish artist sitting at a Barcelona bar. Says Giovanna Bertazzoni, head of Christie's London-based Impressionist and Modern department to Bloomberg News, "A 'Blue Period' Picasso is the sort of painting that could appeal to a new Chinese buyer." She continues, "There is a new breed of Medici-style collectors who want to buy exceptional art from any period."

Lloyd Weber purchased the painting for $29.2 million in 1995 for his foundation using funds he donated. The painting almost went up for sale at Christie's in 2006 but was withdrawn at the last minute due to some concerns over ownership. A German man had claimed that the painting was lost by his family in a "forced sale" by Nazis but with all issues resolved the painting is now finally up for sale again.

Tags: andrew lloyd webber, art auction, art auctions, art market, auctions, Christies, Pablo Picasso, picasso

Filed under: Auctions, Art, Charity

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al schrader Mar 19th 2010 10:40PM

Amazing thing about all of this is I can paint better than Picasso & Pablo was a genius....Alfred-

magyymae1 Mar 19th 2010 11:50PM

Al, you may think you can paint better than Picasso, but you are not Picasso. In Picasso people are not looking for just another realistic painter. there is so much more to his work. He was a very realistic painter when he first started out; that is what abstract means - to move away from something. His work has meaning beyond the images.

John Mar 20th 2010 12:27AM

Al, I agree with you. $60 million for this thing? Ridiculous!.
I recently went to the Guggenheim. They were showing unknown Picasos and work by that idiot Dine. I went downstairs and got my money back.
Maggymae. Why don't you purchase it?.

Robbie Mar 20th 2010 4:09AM

"Magyymae:" Don't look now, but as you "appreciate" this "great work of art," people behind you are smirking, pointing at you, and saying "look, the emperor's wearing no clothes!"
If such passion in art is so evident, why do we regularly hear about one painting or another that has slipped past the "experts," who had no idea it was painted in 2009 by an accountant or a mechanic?

Former sailor Mar 20th 2010 4:36AM

Art is a state of mind: if you hear that something was painted by Picasso, you instantly love it; if it was painted two years ago, by Joe Smith down the street, you point out the lack of real "talent and passion." - Oops, wait a minute - somebody swapped them: the first one is the Smith, and the second one is the Picasso. How did the (faux) art snobs miss that? They must not have really been paying attention. - I hate the overused term "LOL," but this really calls for one - LOL! ! !

al schrader Mar 20th 2010 5:14AM

Mag- I've made canvases where I lost weight during the last day or two of finishing the work. It takes two days alone just to finish the underdrawing.
Most canvases take 5 or 6 weeks to complete. When Pablo became a hit, working weeks to finish a canvas would not generate a steady income. So, he grabbed his bruishes and palate and scribbled a cow, etc. And sold a lot of paintings. The scribble became "abstract" same as Vincent Van Gogh's thick globbed-on paint became "Impressionism". If you would like a "surrealistic" canvas I can knock out an original for you in about 45 minutes.

Former sailor Mar 20th 2010 8:30AM

And by the way - Wake up Maggie I think I got something else to say to you: you're wrong about "abstract:" I believe you're thinking of "extract." Abstract: "having only intrinsic form with little or no attempt at pictorial representation or narrative content "

Mea Mar 20th 2010 1:18AM

John, I would love to be able to afford it, but not many people in the world have that kind of money and I am not one of those who do. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate art, though.

CK Mar 20th 2010 4:56AM

Academics and liberals are all easily led, and misled, by fads. It starts in college where they are indoctrinated by liberal socialist tenured professors who lead them around by the academic nose, and vastly overcharge them for the privilege. All are born as followers, not leaders and trained as critics, not builders. "You can send a fool to college, but what you end up with is an educated fool" Twain.

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