The 24-year-old Picasso painted "Boy With a Pipe" soon after settling in the Montmartre district of Paris. Depicting a Parisian boy holding a pipe in his left hand and wearing a garland of flowers, it was one of 34 works up for auction from the collection of publisher John Hay Whitney and Betsey Whitney, who bought the painting in 1950 for $30,000.The painting was from 1905 which is a little earlier than his relationship with Olivier. Most of the works I saw were around 1909-1916 which was an interesting period for Picasso.
The previous auction record was set by Vincent van Gogh's 1890 "Portrait of Doctor Gachet," which was sold to a Japanese billionaire for $82.5 million in 1990 at Christie's. That price included the auction house's premium.Personally, I am much more drawn to Van Gogh's work than Picasso's. Part of it is the psychological implications that one draw from the history of Doctor Gachet when looking at the painting. Was Dr. Gachet "sicker than [Van Gogh]"?
I wonder if the reason this Picasso sold for so much is because art collecting is becoming hot again or because Picasso is becoming hot again?
Edited: I found this Bloomberg.com story to give a few better details about the history of the painting.
