RUSSIA: Andrew Lloyd Weber's $60 million Picasso painting "Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto'' goes on show in Moscow before auction at Christie's in New York

Christie's, one of the world's leading auction houses, exhibited a Pablo Picasso masterpiece in Moscow in order to entice rich Russian collectors. The Spanish artist's "Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto'' was shown at an invitations-only exhibition in the Peter Smirnoff mansion, in central Moscow on October 19 and 20. It's currently the property of the famous English composer and producer, Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber, and will be sold at impressionist and modern art auction in New York City on November 8. Weber has said he will give all proceeds from the sale to charities that benefit the theatre arts. The portrait has already been shown in London, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Cologne. The decision to show it in Moscow is related to a growing class of wealthy Russian billionaires and millionaires who spend over $1 billion a year on art purchases, according to Russian market experts. "I think that if you keep in mind that, point one, there is interest in Impressionism in Russia, and I think that keeping in mind the number of Picasso's from the Blue Period are in the Hermitage and the Pushkin Museum, we thought that it would be an extraordinary idea to bring the painting here,'' said Alexis de Tiesenhausen, head of the Russian department at Christie's. Russians primarily buy Russian classical art, but over the past two years, Russian collectors have become more prominent buyers at sales of European and Asian art. "Russian collectors don't only collect Russian art. They are into all kinds of fields; I mean, it can be Japanese art, it can be prints, sometimes it can be contemporary, 19th century and from time to time Impressionism,'' said de Tiesenahausen. Weber bought the 1903 portrait in 1995 for $29 million, but it is expected to fetch $40-60 million, is one of Picasso's few Blue Period works to be put up for auction in recent years, and the model's being a close friend of the painter makes it all the more valuable. Picasso (1881-1973) was both a painter and sculptor. He is widely considered the most prominent painter of the 20th century, and was co-founder of the art movement known as cubism. Picasso is estimated to have produced about 13,500 paintings or designs, 100,000 prints or engravings, 34,000 book illustrations and 300 sculptures or ceramics. Picasso's work is often categorized into "periods". The earliest among these is the "Blue Period'' (1901-04), which feature portraits of acrobats, prostitutes, beggars and other artists. Most of these works have a melancholy air about them, and indeed the colour blue is the dominating hue. Other periods include the Rose Period (1905-07); the African Period (1908-09); Cubism (1909-19). Russian billionaires show an increasing interest in artwork and antiques offered for sale by major Western auction houses, such as Christie's and Sotheby's. The most prominent purchase by a Russian was the purchase of the Forbes' Faberge collection, including nine Imperial Easter Eggs made for the czars, and about 180 other Faberge pieces, by aluminium and oil tycoon Viktor Vekselberg for about $120 million. The exact value of the deal remains a secret.

ITN Source | October 23, 2006

Tags:. .movement. .contemporary. .sold. .shown. .theatre