# These 100 million dollar (each) prices for Picasso paintings stuns me **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2006, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-100-million-dollar-each-prices-for-picasso-paintings-stuns-me/355356 "2006-05-04T05:08:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-100-million-dollar-each-prices-for-picasso-paintings-stuns-me/355356/1 "2006-05-04T05:08:08Z")
I mean prices in the range of 100 MILLION DOLLARS for these paintings - That’s some serious money even for a billionare. Who’s buying this stuff? [Picasso’s `Dora Maar au Chat’ Sells for $95.2 Mln at Sotheby’s](http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000088&sid=aOszYPrb3wYc&refer=culture) > [@](#): > > May 3 (Bloomberg) – An unflattering portrait of one of Picasso’s most celebrated lovers, artist Dora Maar, sold for $95.2 million tonight at Sotheby’s Holdings Inc. in New York, the second-highest auction price ever paid for an artwork. > > The 1941 ``Dora Maar au Chat’’ transforms the visage of his glamorous girlfriend into a female Shrek. Despite its overt misogyny, the eye-catching portrait almost doubled its presale estimate of about $50 million. > > The unidentified buyer, seated in the back of the salesroom, outbid several phone bidders. The seller was a member of the Gitwitz family, which made its fortune from Helene Curtis hair products. > > Maar has talon-like fingernails in the painting, a 4-by-3- foot canvas with a profusion of colors including green, red, orange and purple. ``It’s a very handsome painting and I like the way the hands are painted,’’ Picasso biographer John Richardson said before the sale. > > The most expensive artwork sold at auction was Picasso’s ``Boy with a Pipe,’’ which fetched $104 million at Sotheby’s in 2004 . ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-100-million-dollar-each-prices-for-picasso-paintings-stuns-me/355356/2 "2006-05-04T14:18:30Z")
It is completely ridiculous, and not just because I recently read Kurt Vonnegut’s [Bluebeard](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/038533351X/sr=8-1/qid=1146752260/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5865464-0285605?%5Fencoding=UTF8). ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-100-million-dollar-each-prices-for-picasso-paintings-stuns-me/355356/3 "2006-05-04T16:47:55Z")
I was thinking about this after hearing the report on NPR this morning and am in complete agreement. While I adore art and have nothing but reprect for the abilities of the greats, $100,000,000 is just insane for a painting. I’d figured a business or institution had paid that kind of price. It’s inconceivable to me an individual would do something so lavish. I guess the only redeeming thing I can see is that the work will probably hold it’s value if not increase in it. Still, just because someone else is willing to be equally indulgent doesn’t mean it’s not silly. To each his own… but dayum! ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-100-million-dollar-each-prices-for-picasso-paintings-stuns-me/355356/4 "2006-05-04T16:59:24Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > …I’d figured a business or institution had paid that kind of price… It’s all relative. My theory: It’s the same person [selling](http://froogle.google.com/froogle_url?q=http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/711-5256-8196-2%3Floc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fcgi.ebay.com%252Fws%252FeBayISAPI.dll%253FViewItem%2526item%253D6840865847%2526category%253D63852&fr=ALaGSfEQSymK9ewoTkatXESwMSTvHwB8FAxYI9AEm0BeAAAAAAAAAAA&hl=en) [all](http://froogle.google.com/froogle_url?q=http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/711-5256-8196-2%3Floc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fcgi.ebay.com%252Fws%252FeBayISAPI.dll%253FViewItem%2526item%253D6840866146%2526category%253D63852&fr=AFF_cH9kGzOvMbbBIomc4yET3NSmrepYEwxYI9AEm0BeAAAAAAAAAAA&hl=en) [these](http://froogle.google.com/froogle_url?q=http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/711-5256-8196-2%3Floc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fcgi.ebay.com%252Fws%252FeBayISAPI.dll%253FViewItem%2526item%253D6835135633%2526category%253D63852&fr=ANLGQ2M-HMxeaIplPoHfJkgU1ex1teuhNgAAAAAAAAAA&hl=en) [insanely](http://froogle.google.com/froogle_url?q=http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/711-5256-8196-2%3Floc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fcgi.ebay.com%252Fws%252FeBayISAPI.dll%253FViewItem%2526item%253D6841450469%2526category%253D63852&fr=ADPeMA21DdoLxMAbx2RI_T8mrxU1ezpO0BTV7HW166E2AAAAAAAAAAA&hl=en) [priced](http://froogle.google.com/froogle_url?q=http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/711-5256-8196-2%3Floc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fcgi.ebay.com%252Fws%252FeBayISAPI.dll%253FViewItem%2526item%253D6841385329%2526category%253D63852&fr=ADvdP1CGDyIsbQn489nK8e-E1mbKgv-I8QAAAAAAAAAA&hl=en) [Hermes](http://froogle.google.com/froogle_url?q=http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/711-5256-8196-2%3Floc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fcgi.ebay.com%252Fws%252FeBayISAPI.dll%253FViewItem%2526item%253D6846995593%2526category%253D63852&fr=AFVBL9MkTJ5FTGeYA0MErRyE1mbKgv-I8QAAAAAAAAAA&hl=en) [handbags](http://froogle.google.com/froogle_url?q=http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/711-5256-8196-2%3Floc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fcgi.ebay.com%252Fws%252FeBayISAPI.dll%253FViewItem%2526item%253D6835139257%2526category%253D63852&fr=AFDfvcCX3lflgYiE1lqtd53esetI1lZ6tQAAAAAAAAAA&hl=en). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-100-million-dollar-each-prices-for-picasso-paintings-stuns-me/355356/5 "2006-05-04T17:39:17Z")
I dunno… I mean, really, once you’re that rich, what else are you going to spend your money on? Now, mind you, I can’t really see becoming that rich in the first place… Once you have a few million, it seems to me that you might as well just retire and enjoy a life of leisure. But if you do (for whatever reason) keep on doing whatever it is you do, to the point that you have billions of dollars, why not blow a fraction of it on famous and historical status symbols? ---
**Author:** ![Iris\_Rings](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d78d45/32.png) [@Iris\_Rings](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iris_Rings)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-100-million-dollar-each-prices-for-picasso-paintings-stuns-me/355356/6 "2006-05-06T00:42:37Z")
Actually, if the bidder has a few more stashed in the attic, the premium paid for this one may be easily made up by selling the others, as the painter’s whole “price slope” will rise. ---
**Author:** ![Iris\_Rings](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d78d45/32.png) [@Iris\_Rings](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iris_Rings)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-100-million-dollar-each-prices-for-picasso-paintings-stuns-me/355356/7 "2006-05-06T00:44:01Z")
Wasn’t there a call at one time for a more equitable system, whereby the artist got a cut every time a painting was resold? ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2006, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-100-million-dollar-each-prices-for-picasso-paintings-stuns-me/355356/8 "2006-05-06T01:29:59Z")
What stuns me is that my mother-in-law and her then-husband had the opportunity to buy a small piece by Matisse back in the 1970’s for $15,000. Within ten years or so, the same piece was sold for about $10 million. I could smack them both silly- they had the money, but bought a fucking sailboat instead. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-100-million-dollar-each-prices-for-picasso-paintings-stuns-me/355356/9 "2006-05-06T02:22:46Z")
Art as investment seems to me to be missing the point. Why can’t people enjoy art for what it is, instead of how much money it will make them someday? ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2006, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-100-million-dollar-each-prices-for-picasso-paintings-stuns-me/355356/10 "2006-05-06T02:43:20Z")
Well, they loved the painting but felt that it might be too much money… But I will tell you flat out that they would have sold it for $10 million without a qualm.