A Picasso masterpiece sold for twice its estimate, last night (Tuesday, February 2) at Christie's in London.
 Tete de Femme (Jacqueline), sold for £8.1m |
Never before offered at auction and unseen in public for 43 years, Tete de Femme (Jacqueline) realised a final hammer price of �8.1m.
The portrait depicts Pablo Picasso's second wife, Jacqueline, to whom he was married in the final years of his life.
According to reports, the work has remained in the same private collection since 1981, away from the public eye.
The 1963 painting far exceeded its pre-sale estimate of �3m-4m, and sold to an anonymous buyer.
Of course, Jacqueline wasn't Picasso's first muse. Women and art were famously inseparable throughout his life.
And Picasso's most famous muse remains his first wife, Françoise Gilot, the subject of many of his great works.
But there was much more to Gilot, who herself was one of the most respected artists of the emerging School of Paris.
Now, a fascinating companion to Picasso's depictions of Françoise has emerged on the art market.
A rarely seen ink self-portrait completed by Gilot in 1943, aged 21 - three years prior to the beginning of her decade-long relationship with Picasso - is currently available to collectors
