Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto
Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto | |
---|---|
English: The Absinthe Drinker, French: Portrait bleu de Angel Fernández de Soto | |
Artist | Pablo Picasso |
Year | 1903[1] |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Movement | Picasso's Blue Period, Expressionism |
Dimensions | 70.3 cm × 55.3 cm (27.67 in × 21.75 in) |
Location | Private collection |
Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto (also known as The Absinthe Drinker) (French: Portrait bleu de Angel Fernández de Soto) is a portrait by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso completed in 1903 during his Blue Period. The oil painting depicts Picasso's friend and fellow painter, Angel Fernandez de Soto, in a bar with a glass of absinthe. The painting was previously owned by musical theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. On 23 June 2010, the painting was sold at auction for £34.7 million.
Background
Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto is a study of a young Spanish artist sitting in a bar, shrouded in tobacco smoke from a pipe, with a glass of absinthe in front of him. The young man, Fernández de Soto, was Picasso's friend and was usually referred to as an "amusing wastrel", as he enjoyed drinking and partying.[2] Picasso met Fernández de Soto in 1899 and they twice shared studios in Barcelona.[1] The portrait gives an insight into the life of Picasso and his circle of friends, and Picasso immortalized Fernández de Soto in several of his paintings, some of which are now held in the Museu Picasso in Barcelona.[2] Fernández de Soto was later killed in the Spanish Civil War.[3]
The Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation purchased the painting for £18 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York City in 1995.[4] The painting was included in a selection of works from Lloyd Webber's collection, which was exhibited at London's Royal Academy of Arts in 2003.[3]
Dispute over ownership
In 2006, Lloyd Webber announced that he would be selling Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto at auction for charity.[5] However, the painting was withdrawn from auction after a claim that the previous owner was forced to sell it under duress from the Nazi regime in Germany.[6] The previous owner's family reached an out-of-court settlement with the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, which allowed the foundation to retain ownership of the painting and to be free to sell the work.[5]
2010 auction
In March 2010, it was announced that Lloyd Webber had made the decision to auction off the painting to benefit his arts, culture and heritage charity foundation.[7] The painting was to be included in a Christie's auction of Impressionist and Modern art in London on 23 June 2010.[4]
The painting became the most highly estimated work of art to be offered at auction in Europe, with a pre-sale estimate of between £30–40 million.[7][8] Jussi Pylkkänen, president of Christie's Europe division said the painting is "one of the most important works of art to be offered at auction in decades".[9] On 23 June 2010, the painting came to auction and was sold for £34.7 million to an anonymous telephone bidder.[10][11]
References
- ^ a b Collett-White, Mike (17 March 2010). "Christie's puts record price tag on "key" Picasso". Reuters. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Christie's to Offer Andrew Lloyd Webber's Picasso Masterpiece from His Blue Period". Artdaily. 18 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ a b Reyburn, Scott (17 March 2010). "Lloyd Webber to Sell $60.9 Million Picasso Portrait for Charity". Bloomberg. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Record estimate for disputed Picasso painting". BBC. 17 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Lloyd Webber's Picasso to be sold after Nazi row settled". AFP. 17 March 2010. Archived from the original on March 25, 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ "Picasso's Angel Fernandez de Soto withdrawn from Christie's sale". The Art Wolf. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Andrew Lloyd Webber's Picasso set to raise £30m for charity". The Telegraph. 17 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ Hoyle, Ben (18 March 2010). "Art world shrugs off its blue period". The Australian. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ "Once-disputed Picasso painting goes on the block". CBC News. 17 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ "Picasso reaches £34.7m in Christie's auction". BBC. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
- ^ "Blue period Picasso sells for more than £34m". Press Association. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
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- Le petit picador jaune (1889)
- Science and Charity (1897)
- Le Moulin de la Galette (1900)
- The Appointment (1901)
- Child with a Dove (1901)
- La Gommeuse (1901)
- Yo, Picasso (1901)
- Portrait of Jaime Sabartés (1901)
- The Blue Room (1901)
- Femme aux Bras Croisés (1901-02)
- Old Jewish Man with a Boy (1903)
- The Old Guitarist (1903)
- La Vie (1903)
- Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto (1903)
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- The Actor (1904-1905)
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- Famille d'acrobates avec singe (1905)
- Boy Leading a Horse (1905–06)
- Portrait of Gertrude Stein (1905–06)
- Head of a Young Woman (1906)
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- Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (1910)
- The Accordionist (1911)
- Le pigeon aux petits pois (1911)
- La Coiffeuse (1911)
- Violon et Raisins (1912)
- Bottle, Glass, Fork (1912)
- Ma Jolie (1912)
- Arlequin (1913)
- Ma Jolie (1914)
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- Reading the Letter (c. 1921)
- The Pipes of Pan (1923)
- The Three Dancers (1925)
- Woman in a Red Armchair (1929)
- Le Repos (1932)
- Girl before a Mirror (1932)
- La Lecture (1932)
- Le Rêve (1932)
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- Nude in a Black Armchair (1932)
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- The Weeping Woman (1937)
- Girl with a Red Beret and Pompom (1937)
- Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée (Marie-Thérèse Walter) (1937)
- Maya with Doll (1938)
- Woman's Head (1939)
- Dora Maar au Chat (1941)
- The Charnel House (1944–1945)
- Nature morte au poron (1948)
- Massacre in Korea (1951)
- Les Femmes d'Alger series (1955)
- Las Meninas (1957)
- The Fall of Icarus (1958)
- Bust of a Seated Woman (Jacqueline Roque) (1960)
- Jacqueline (1961)
- Femme au Chien (1962)
- Bust of a Woman (Marie-Thérèse) (1931)
- Tête de femme (Dora Maar) (1941)
- Bull's Head (1942)
- Baboon and Young (1951)
- Figure découpée (1963, 1964, 1965)
- Chicago Picasso (1967)
- Sylvette (1970)
- Vollard Suite (1930–1937)
- Minotaur Kneeling over Sleeping Girl (1933)
- Minotauromachy (1935)
- The Dream and Lie of Franco (1937)
- 347 Series (1968)
- Girl from Majorca (1905)
- Don Quixote (1955)
- Toros y toreros (1961)
- Le Taureau (1945-1946)
- Dove (1949)
- Desire Caught by the Tail (c. 1941)
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- Mercure
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- Maya Widmaier-Picasso (daughter)
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- Paloma Picasso (daughter)
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- Marina Picasso (granddaughter)
- Bernard Ruiz-Picasso (grandson)
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(France)
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- Villa La Vigie (Juan-les-Pins, Summer 1924)
- Château de Boisgeloup (Gisors, 1930-1937)
- Château of Vauvenargues (Vauvenargues, 1958-1962)
- Villa La Californie (Cannes, 1955-1961)
- Château de Vie (Mougins, 1961-1973)
television about
- Visit to Picasso (1949)
- Guernica (1950)
- The Mystery of Picasso (1956)
- The Adventures of Picasso (1978)
- Surviving Picasso (1996)
- Picasso: Magic, Sex & Death (2001)
- Modigliani (2004)
- Genius (2018 TV series)
- Carles Casagemas
- Carl Nesjar
- Lydia Corbett
- Lump (dog)
- Fundación Picasso
- Picasso. In the heart of darkness (1939-1945) (2019-2020 exhibition)
- Picasso & Lump (2006 book)
- Picasso referendum of Basel
- Theft of The Weeping Woman from the National Gallery of Victoria
- Portrait of Pablo Picasso (1915 painting)
- "If I Told Him: A Completed Portrait of Picasso" (1924 poem)
- Woman, Bird, Star (Homage to Pablo Picasso) (1973 painting)
- "Pablo Picasso" (1976 song)
- The Blue Guitar (1977 etchings)
- Picasso at the Lapin Agile (1993 play)
- Picasso (crater)