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Picasso masterpiece depicting his young mistress could sell for over US$120 million at auction

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A Picasso masterpiece entitled 鈥淔emme 脿 la montre鈥 is expected to fetch more than US$120 million when it goes up for auction this fall.

The 1932 oil painting will take center-stage at a two-day event at in New York in November, when the collection of Emily Fisher Landau goes on sale.

A Picasso masterpiece entitled 鈥淔emme 脿 la montre鈥 is expected to fetch more than $120 million when it goes up for auction this fall (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images for Sotheby's/via CNN)

The piece, which measures 51录 x 38 inches (130 x 96.5 centimeters), depicts Picasso鈥檚 lover and 鈥済olden muse鈥 Marie-Th茅r猫se Walter, who featured in many of his portraits.

According to the auction house, the portrait is from one of the most prolific years of the Spanish artist鈥檚 career, which was the subject of an entire exhibition organized by the Mus茅e Picasso in Paris and London鈥檚 Tate Modern in 2018.

In a statement announcing the sale, Julian Dawes, 厂辞迟丑别产测鈥檚 head of Impressionist & Modern Art for the Americas, said: 鈥淧icasso鈥檚 鈥楩emme 脿 la Montre鈥 is a masterpiece by every measure. Painted in 1932鈥擯icasso鈥檚 鈥榓nnus mirabilis鈥欌攊t is full of joyful, passionate abandon yet at the same time it is utterly considered and resolved. Its bold primary colors sing from the five-foot-tall-canvas.鈥

Picasso first met Walter in Paris in 1927 when she was 17 years old and he was still married to his first wife, Olga Khokhlova, a Russian-Ukrainian ballet dancer. Walter would become the inspiration for some of his most sought-after canvases, drawings and sculptures.

As time went on, Picasso found it increasingly difficult to hide his feelings for Walter from his work鈥攕omething that became clear during his first large-scale retrospective and finally ended his marriage.

The artist painted 鈥淔emme 脿 la montre鈥 in August 1932, soon after the retrospective at the Galerie Georges Petit in Paris ended.

According to 厂辞迟丑别产测鈥檚, 鈥渢he sense of release from keeping secrets about his affair seem to have spilled out onto this extraordinary canvas, in which he gives full painterly rein to new-found freedoms, drenching the painting in strong primary colors and beautiful forms, while at the same time paying careful attention to every small detail, creating a composition that is both intensely complex and deeply harmonious.鈥

Picasso died in 1973, and Walter in 1977.

Andy Warhol's 1986 self portrait will also be auctioned as part of Fisher Landau's collection (Sotheby's via CNN)

The painting is one of about 120 from the collection of Fisher Landau, a world renowned contemporary art collector who died earlier this year aged 102, according to .

The collection, which also includes works by Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol, Willem de Kooning and Georgia O鈥橩eeffe, is expected to sell for more than $400 million overall.

Fisher Landau鈥檚 began seriously collecting after receiving an insurance payout following an armed robbery of her jewelery at her New York home in 1969.

In an interview for an exhibition catalog, quoted in the 厂辞迟丑别产测鈥檚 statement, she said of the episode: 鈥淓ven though Lloyds of London paid up, there was no way to replace that collection. It was so beautiful. And they got it in one fell swoop鈥. I was devastated. But I decided that I didn鈥檛 want the jewelry any more. I now had seed money for a collection.鈥

Art collector Emily Fisher Landau died earlier this year, aged 102. She is pictured here in front of Fernand L茅ger's "脡tude pour Les Constructeurs" in her home in Manhattan in 2002. (Sotheby's via CNN)

Last year, Picasso鈥檚 most curious painting of Walter, in which she appears as a tentacled sea creature, sold for $67.5 million at 厂辞迟丑别产测鈥檚 in New York.

Picasso鈥檚 portraits of Walter have become highly sought-after, with his other 1932 works 鈥淔emme assise pr猫s d鈥檜ne fen锚tre (Marie-Th茅r猫se),鈥 selling for $103.41 million in 2021, and 鈥淣ude, Green Leaves and Bust,鈥 selling for $106.5 million in 2010.

In May 2015, Picasso鈥檚 鈥淟es femmes d鈥橝lger (Version 鈥淥鈥) sold at Christie鈥檚 in New York for $179.4 million鈥攁t that time, the highest price ever paid for a work of art at auction.

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