Picasso portrait of his lover lures nearly $45M at auction

File photo dated Jan. 31, 2013 shows gallery assistants hanging Picasso's "Femme Assise Pres d'une Fenetre" (Woman Sitting Near a Window) / AP

LONDON A Picasso painting of his muse has fetched $44.9 million at a London auction.

The 1932 work, "Femme Assise Pres d'une Fenetre (Woman Sitting Near a Window)," is a portrait of the artist's "golden muse," Marie-Therese Walter.

Picasso first met his muse in Paris in 1927, when she was 17 years old, and the pair subsequently became lovers.

Helena Newman, who heads Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art department in Europe, called the painting a "stunning and monumental portrait" from one of the most celebrated periods in Picasso's life.

She added Tuesday that there has been a strong market for Picasso's portraits of Walter among collectors in recent years.

Another portrait, "La Lecture," sold for 25 million pounds in 2011, double its pre-sale estimate.

[kennyfrew]

I agree with THRASHD11.
I am not an art critic. I don't care what the so called art experts believe is art. Art is something truly special. This crap is not special at all, but looks like something from the Elephant Man. $45 Mil. for the name Picasso. Hell the Simpsons has better illustrations. An (artist) who creates cartoons is called a cartoonist.

[kendb1331]

I wouldn't have given $45 for the thing, much less 45 million.

[thrashd11]

I'm an art critic. This painting is ridiculous. It looks like a 2 yr old did it. Everyone deep down in their sole knows there is really nothing special about this painting except fluff from so-called "art experts". This painting is truthfully ugly to look at and you know it.

[missssy]

Deep down in their "sole"? LOL, I seriously doubt that you're an art critic.