Femme assise en costume vert, a famed 1952 painting by Pablo Picasso depicting artist Françoise Gilot, one of his muses, will soon be offered at an upcoming sale this May 12 as part of Sotheby’s Impressionist and modern art evening auction.
The painting was recently on view at Sotheby’s galleries in London and is currently on display at the house’s New York headquarters. It is expected to fetch a price between $14 and $18 million.
The muse in the painting was also his former partner with whom he had two children, Paloma and Claude. “The painting encapsulates Gilot’s strength of character, Picasso’s enduring respect for her, and his slipping hold on her,” Sotheby’s said in a press release. Madame Gilot currently resides in New York and will turn 100 in November. She has also recently published a memoir chronicling her relationship with Picasso.
The painting will see its return to auction this May after being purchased by a European owner back in 1986 from Sotheby’s for just $568,000. “While few comparable portraits of Gilot of this quality and scale have appeared at auction over the past decade, each has performed exceptionally well,” said Julian Dawes, co-head of Sotheby’s Impressionist and modern art department, in a statement.