Rare, Early Picassos to Hit the Auction Block

By ARTINFO

Published: September 26, 2008

Courtesy Sotheby's

Pablo Picasso's "Arlequin (Buste)" (1909) has been withdrawn from Sotheby’s Imp-Mod sale on November 3.

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NEW YORK—If late Picassos are a dime a dozen at auction (make that several dimes a dozen), the artist’s early works are much harder to come by. But in the coming months, deep-pocketed collectors will have two opportunities, the New York Times reports.

Arlequin (Buste) (1909), from the artist’s Analytic Cubist phase, will be sold at Sotheby’s on November 3 and is expected to earn more than $30 million. The painting was consigned by the estate of the Surrealist painter Enrico Donati, who died in April. Donati purchased the work in 1947 from the legendary dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler for about $12,000.

In February, Christie’s offers Picasso’s Musical Instruments on a Table (1914), which could bring in nearly $60 million. The work is part of a sale of the collection of designer Yves Saint Laurent, who died in June.

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