$179 million For a Picasso as Painting Shatters Record at Christie’s Auctions

I am glad to let you know that the great twentieth century master is in the news again! An all time record was recently recorded at the world famous Christie’s at the latest art auction that took place. This is clearly the highest amount ever realised at any auction of a painting or any form of artwork. Exactly $179.4 million is the record value fetched by Pablo Picasso’s masterpiece titled ‘Les Femmes d’Alger, Version O’.

'Les Femmes d’Alger, Version O' by Picasso

A telephone bid made by an unidentified buyer was how the artwork was carted away, beating the last record which had stood since 2013, of the $142.2 million which was paid for the work of Francis Bacon’s triptych “Three Studies of Lucien Freud”. This was in the month of November, 2013.

During the recent auctions at Christie’s, the sale of Pablo Picasso’s painting was the peak of the event on that day. In the same day at the auctions, an all time bumper sale was also recorded in that some of the world’s wealthiest people who are chasing scarce masterpieces did not fail to cart away so much, resulting in the total gross of $706 million worth of art in just one evening! 

Pablo Picasso – Painter and Twentieth Century Art Genius, or Was He a Smart Alec?

It may interest you to know that a lot of cubism and indeed modern art has been attributed to the contributions of one man – a genius of the twentieth century, and an artist whose legacy and life of art in the recent centuries have remained almost unmatched. Pablo Picasso was born in Spain in 1881, he was an infant genius who was recognised and helped early in life by his father who was also his teacher. The small Museo de Picasso is situated in Barcelona; it is a place that is strictly devoted to housing especially some of Picasso’s early works which also includes even a range of very realistic casts of ancient sculptures. 

Pablo Picasso (photo by Herbert List)

As a youngster Picasso was a non conformist of some sort, and he began frequenting the Barcelona cafes where intellectuals often gathered. Very soon he went to Paris which is regarded as the capital of art and familiarised himself thoroughly with the works of masters like Gustave Courbet, Manet and Toulouse-Lautrec. Their sketchy styles of work inspired him a great deal; later he was off, and returned to Spain, then to France, then again to Spain all in the period 1899 – 1904.

Before Pablo Picasso discovered cubism he had experimented with, and gone through fascinating different styles such as realism, caricature, the Blue Period and the Rose Period. His blue period for instance ran from 1901-1904, and featured predominantly a blue palette, and his works then focussed mainly on depicting the lives of outcasts, prostitutes and beggars. At this period of his career, he produced some of his first works of sculpture in this style including a painting piece he did depicting his childhood friend - the Spanish poet Casagemas, who had committed suicide. And this work is a permanent collection of Cleveland's Museum of Art, La Vie.

'Guernica', painting by Pablo Picasso

The painting started off as a self portrait but ended up being that of his late bosom friend. Another popular work of Picasso’s of this period is the 1903 piece in the Metropolitan which he called ‘The Blind Man's Meal’. Another example is the very lyrical and mysterious piece housed in the Toledo Museum of Art titled ‘the haunting Woman with a Crow’ (1903). 

WHAT IS AFRICAN ART? (1)

The meaning and purpose of art can be traced back to man’s earliest quest for survival. Thus the meaning, function and purpose of art in those days were quite different from what we would know of it today. Then, art only played a functional role. Early man learnt to fashion out tools, weapons and body coverings. Even the drawings done by the wizard artist were for magical purposes.

But as man developed further he even became superstitious, and thence emanated the ritual or religious purpose of art. But the most outstanding form of early-man’s art is the cave art: featuring drawings, paintings and etchings on the walls of caves. The purpose of these people for doing what they did have no doubt become different from what their legacies are for us today – hidden treasures of invaluable records. The artists were totally unbiased and true to their natural callings; responsive to their every social activities and events surrounding them. Art, be it as practised in the early times or as of today, would normally function in various ways. A piece of art work could perform social, domestic, religious or aesthetic functions.

Benin bronze head - an example of  traditional African art

But the question is – does African art perform different functions from European art for example? Are their roles supposed to be delimitated or specifically targeted towards a particular purpose? I would think that early-man art, and traditional art – being its immediate successor, could play the same roles be it in Africa, Europe, the Far East, the Americas or Oceania, etc.

Because of man’s level of development at this time, encumbered by superstition, animism crept into art. And also due to the level of interaction and non-commercialisation of man’s early art forms, there was maintained a strong level of seeming conservatism and therefore marked differences, and demarcations arose. And so one would want to ask – what is the noise all about African art? This is to say, looking at the concept, from the perspective in which the term is popularly viewed even in today’s modern world. I submit that there is African art, and there is also traditional art of Africa. So, if we set apart traditional African art, do we still have what is popularly touted as African art?