Sotheby's to auction major Picasso painting in London

Sotheby's will auction Pablo Picasso's 1937 painting 'Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée (Marie-Thérèse Walter)' in London on February 28, 2018, as part of its Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale. The work, estimated at £37 million (approximately $50 million), is being offered at public auction for the first time. The sale is seen as Sotheby's effort to close the gap with rival Christie's, which reported a 30% increase in sales in 2017, partly driven by the record $450 million sale of Leonardo da Vinci's 'Salvator Mundi'. The Picasso portrait depicts Marie-Thérèse Walter, the artist's lover and muse, and marks a stylistic shift from the angular Cubist forms associated with Dora Maar to softer lines and tones. Painted in the same year as 'Guernica', the work is considered a masterpiece. Before the auction, Sotheby's will exhibit the painting in Hong Kong (January 30–February 2) and Taipei (February 6–7), highlighting the importance of Asian buyers in the market for modern and Impressionist art.