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Painting of Picasso's Mistress Fetches $40M

La Lecture sells for double estimate

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 9, 2011 2:02 AM CST | Updated Feb 9, 2011 5:53 AM CST

(Newser) – A painting of the teenage mistress Pablo Picasso picked up outside a Paris Metro station in 1927 has sold for $40 million at auction. La Lecture, which shows Marie-Therese Walter asleep in a chair, was sold to an anonymous buyer for double the expected price, the Telegraph reports. The painter charmed the 17-year-old Walter—28 years his junior—with the line: "I am Picasso. You and I are going to do great things together.'' The affair was long kept secret because Walter was underage, and because the painter was married.

This photo released by Sotheby's auction house shows the painting La Lecture by Pablo Picasso.
This photo released by Sotheby's auction house shows the painting La Lecture by Pablo Picasso.   (AP Photo / Sotheby's / ho)
La Lecture is seen during a presentation to the press in Paris.
"La Lecture" is seen during a presentation to the press in Paris.   (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
vegas_guy
Feb 9, 2011 12:19 PM CST
Picasso's mistress was named Walter?
Dave
Feb 9, 2011 6:28 AM CST
"The artist has the most important job on the planet" - Joseph Campbell Part of the proof of that statement can be seen by the fact that right wingers often hate the art community. When you see art as an investment you lose all it's value.
finkster
Feb 9, 2011 5:38 AM CST
Boy us guys will do anything to get laid.
 

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