Steven Cohen, owner of SAC Capital Advisors LP, purchased Pablo Picasso’s “Le Reve” for a record $155 million from casino magnate Steve Wynn. This is the highest price paid for a work of art by any US collector. 

Wynn had previously agreed to sell the painting to Cohen for $139 million in 2006. The purchase was canceled after Wynn, whose vision has deteriorated owing to retinitis pigmentosa, accidentally put his elbow through the canvas while showing it to some of his close friends. Cohen remained interested in the work for years as it was repaired.

Art Quote of the Week:

" An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision."

  - James Whistler

Art At Auction

René Gruau Fashion Study Goauche and ink on paper, 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches created in 1950's. Sold for over six times the estimate for $53,125.00 USD.

Alexander Calder’s “Policeman” wire sculpture, which sold for record auction price of $4.2 million, or four times the original estimate and nearly double the previous record price for a Calder wire figure sold in February 2011.

Edvard Munch’s iconic The Scream (1895), among the most celebrated and recognized images in art history, will be on view at The Museum of Modern Art for a period of six months. Of the four versions of The Scream made by Munch between 1893 and 1910, this pastel-on-board from 1895 is the only one remaining in private hands; the three other versions are in the collections of museums in Norway. The Scream is being lent by a private collector.

"The startling power of Munch's original work endures almost despite the image's present-day ubiquity," notes Ann Temkin, The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, who is organizing the installation. "The visual subtlety and complexity of this composition can't be summed up in a cliché."

A haunting rendition of a hairless figure on a bridge under a yellow-orange sky, The Scream has captured the popular imagination since the time of its making. The image was originally conceived by Munch as part of his epic Frieze of Life series, which explored the progression of modern life by focusing on the themes of love, angst, and death. Especially concerned with the expressive representation of emotions and personal relationships, Munch was associated with the international development of Symbolism during the 1890s and recognized as a precursor of 20th-century Expressionism.

Becoming Picasso

February 14, 2013–May 27, 2013

The Courtauld Gallery, London.

Discover the remarkable story of Pablo Picasso’s breakthrough year as an artist –1901. It was the year that the ambitious nineteen-year-old launched his career in Paris with an exhibition that would set him on course to become one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. Becoming Picasso: Paris 1901 reunites major paintings from his debut exhibition with the influential dealer Ambroise Vollard.

These works show the young painter taking on and transforming the styles and subjects of major modern artists of the age, such as Van Gogh, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec. In the second half of 1901, Picasso radically changed the direction of his art, heralding the beginning  of his now famous Blue period.

The works show Picasso’s desire to take on and reinvent the styles of major modern artists, including Van Gogh, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec. The show was a success and launched Picasso’s career in Paris. This exhibition brings together a spectacular group of these paintings, offering a unique opportunity to experience the birth of Picasso's genius.