Filthy rich billionaire Bill Koch has padded his bank account just a little more, as if the oil tycoon boasting a net worth of $2.2 billion needed the extra cash. Koch unloaded a priceless piece of art from his private collection in a Sotheby’s auction on Friday, netting himself a mind-numbing $67.45 million. I understand Pablo Picasso is among the most-prized names to a collector’s ear in the art world, but goddamn! Someone paid nearly $70 million for this!?
But apparently there’s a very good reason some asshole who’s probably equally as rich as Bill Koch dropped a ton of coin to be able to hang this lady with some very scary looking breasts wherever they please. You see, the painting titled “La Gommeuse” or “The Cabaret Dancer”, isn’t all that meets the eye. Aside from being considered “the finest ‘Blue Period’ Picasso to come to market in a generation,” the painting also conceals a second image on the reverse side – a portrait from 1901 of fellow Catalan, Pere Manach, who organized Picasso’s first public exhibition. The reverse side was undiscovered until 2000 when conservation workers found the hidden gem.
So basically, it’s like two Picassos for the price of one! You’re only paying just over $33 million for each side, so that’s pretty much a bargain.
The Inquistr explained the top-dollar allure of the piece, which Bill Koch made an absolute killing on, having bought it in 1984 for only $3 million. Damn, that’s a decent investment.
The reversible painting was drawn by Picasso when he was just 19-years-old. He drew it during the famous ‘Blue Period’, i.e. between 1901 and 1904. Paintings from this time-period rarely come up for auction and usually command top dollar, and the reversible painting was no exception. It was the time Picasso mostly painted monochromatic paintings in shades of blue and blue-green. Despite the overwhelming evidence of partiality to the monochromatic hues, Picasso chose to paint “La Gommeuse” in multiple colors perhaps to correctly depicte the various shades of a naked woman. According to the auction house, “The woman’s very body defines the perverse beauty of the age.”
It’s reported that “La Gommeuse” was purchased Swiss art dealer Doris Ammann. All I’m saying is for $67 million, you could wall-paper Charlotte McKinney pictures from floor to ceiling in every room of your house, still probably be sitting on $66 million, and have something way more attractive to look at.
But what do I know about fine art collecting? Pierce Brosnan in The Thomas Crown Affair, that’s about it.
[via Inquistr]