HONG KONG: A rare Picasso believed to be a self-portrait created when he was under threat of deportation to a Nazi concentration camp is expected to fetch $70 million at auction, Christie’s said Friday as the work went on view in Hong Kong.
The oil painting “Le Marin” depicts a sad-looking man dressed in a blue and white striped sailor’s shirt sitting on a chair.
“You have ... a slightly dark sense around the picture. It’s nervous, it’s on edge and slightly gloomy,” said Conor Jordan, deputy chairman of impressionist and modern art at Christie’s.
The 130 by 81 centimeter (52 by 31 inch) vertical painting shows the man resting his head against his right hand, while his legs are crossed with his left hand on his knee.
“That’s a traditional symbol of melancholy,” Jordan added.
Created in 1943, during the Nazi occupation of France, the painting reflects the distress and anxiety of the Spanish painter who was under threat of being sent to a concentration camp in Germany.
Le Marin’s last appearance was 21 years ago at an auction of works from the collection of New York art collectors Victor and Sally Ganz.
The painting will be on view in Hong Kong until April 3 before traveling to London and then New York, where it will go under the hammer on May 15 as part of Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art sale.
Le Marin is one of the five most important pieces by Picasso, according to Christie’s.
Last November, a series of 100 Picasso etchings which deal with his erotic obsessions and marital strife, as well as political turmoil in the 1930s, sold for 1.9 million euros ($2.2 million) in Paris to an unnamed American collector.
Picasso’s “The Women of Algiers (Version 0)” set a world record as the most expensive piece of art sold at auction when it fetched $179.4 million at Christie’s in New York in 2015.
Rare Picasso self-portrait expected to fetch $70 million
Rare Picasso self-portrait expected to fetch $70 million
Writers boycott Adelaide Festival after Randa Abdel-Fattah is dropped
DUBAI: A wave of writers have withdrawn from the Adelaide Festival’s Writers’ Week, prompting organizers to take down a section of the event’s website as the backlash continues over the removal of Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah from the 2026 program.
The festival confirmed on Friday that it had temporarily removed the online schedule listing authors, journalists, academics and commentators after participants began pulling out in protest of the board’s decision, which cited “cultural sensitivity” concerns following the Bondi terror attack.
In a statement posted online, the festival said the listings had been unpublished while changes were made to reflect the growing number of withdrawals.
By Friday afternoon, 47 speakers had already exited the program, with more believed to be coordinating their departures with fellow writers.
High-profile figures stepping away include Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper, Sarah Krasnostein, Miles Franklin Prize winner Michelle de Kretser, Drusilla Modjeska, Melissa Lucashenko and Stella Prize-winning poet Evelyn Araluen.
Best-selling novelist Trent Dalton also withdrew from the event. He had been scheduled to deliver a paid keynote at Adelaide Town Hall, one of the few Writers’ Week sessions requiring a ticket.
