Juan Gris painting sells for $56.8 million

Spanish Art

A painting by Spanish artist Juan Gris (1887 – 1927) sold last Tuesday at Christie’s of London for a handsome £ 34.8 million ($56.8 million). This is the highest price to date fetched for a Gris piece nearly doubling his previously highest sold painting Violon et guitar which went for $28,642,500 at a Christie’s auction in New York.

The 1915 oil on canvas work entitled Nature morte á la nappe á carreaux (Still Life with Checked Tablecloth) features a medley of objects, including a cluster of green grapes and a folded up newspaper, atop a table with a mulit-colored checked table cloth. The painting was part of a private collection that belongs to a Swiss couple. The 1.16 x 89.3 meter oil on canvas piece has also been exhibited over the century in some of the most prestigious cubist shows around the world. It was valued at between 20 to 30 million dollars when it was purchased on Tuesday.

The Picasso painting Femme au costume turc dans un fauteuil (1955) sold at the same auction for 19.9 million euros (27.7 million dollars). This was expected to be the star of the auction with an estimated value of 23 million euros, a price that was not reached. The work displays an image of Picasso’s second wife Jacqueline Roque.

Juan Gris

Juan Gris was born in Madrid but moved to Paris in 1906 at the age of 19. His painting style is closely associated with Cubism. He painted Still Life with Checked Tablecloth at a critical moment in his artistic career, the beginning of a four period often considered by critics as his most inspired phase. He began painting full time in 1910, often painting with a grayish pallet until vibrant color began appearing in his work around 1915. He also began exploring cubist expressions more creatively and developed a style that made use of collage. Clear influences include Cézanne and Picasso. In 1927, he died at just 40 years old after suffering an acute asthma attack. Despite his short life, his work would go on to be displayed in some of the world’s most prestigious museums such as the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. 

Expensive Picasso paintings

Picasso paintings sell at auction for an average price of nearly $10,000 and he has 363 pieces on the list of the world’s 5,000 most expensive works of visual art list. The following are a few of his most expensive paintings.

In 2013 his Le Rêve (the dream) sold for $155 million, even after the previous owner put a six inch tear in the canvas with his elbow while showing it to friends (the canvas was repaired for $90,000).   

Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves and Bust (1932) sold in 2010 at Christie’s in New York for $106.5 million. His Garón a la pipe (1904) sold in 2004 for $104 million, a purchase that made headlines as the first time a painting sold for over $100 million.

Picasso’s Dora Maar au chat (1941) sold in 2006 for $95 million.