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Pablo Picasso is hailed as one of the greatest artists of all time, whose artworks contributed significantly to the development of modern art in the 20th century. On May 11, Picasso's 1932 painting called “Femme Assise Pres D'une Fenetre” or “Woman Sitting Near a Window” in English will be auctioned at Christie's 20th Century Art Evening Sale in New York and is estimated to fetch around $55 million or almost Php2.7 billion.

The story behind Picasso's five-foot-tall artwork is just as controversial as its auction price. The 50-year-old Spanish painter's muse in “Woman Sitting Near a Window” is not his wife, Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova, but his 22-year-old lover named Marie-Thérèse Walter.

Spanish artist Pablo Picasso and his lover Marie-Therese Walter Source: pablopicasso.org and Christie's

Picasso is said to have met Marie-Therese by chance outside the Galeries Lafayette in 1927 and the two started an intense love affair soon after.

She became Picasso's muse for some of his most sought-after artworks, including sculptures, drawings, and canvases.

In most of his paintings, Marie-Therese was often depicted nude and lying in repose, but in “Woman Sitting Near a Window,” she is fully clothed, seated on a chair while looking out the window.

According to Keith Gill, co-head of Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale, the painting was not created to be part of an art exhibit.

Gill said, “This painting is an intensely private portrait of his love affair with his mistress and his art.”

Pablo Picasso's “Woman Sitting Near a Window” / Source: Sotheby's

Despite this, the “Woman Sitting Near a Window” was exhibited in 1936 at Galerie Paul Rosenberg in Paris.

It was later on acquired by American businesswoman Evelyn Sharp added it to her private collection.

The 1932 Picasso artwork was first auctioned in Christie's New York in 1997 and reportedly sold for $6.8 million.

In February 2013, it was auctioned again--this time at Sotheby's London--and sold for £28.6 million to an anonymous collector.

And in 2017 and 2018, the “Woman Sitting Near a Window” painting was publicly displayed in 'Picasso 1932.' a tribute exhibition to Picasso's “years of wonders” at Musee Picasso, Paris and Tate Modern, London.

Aside from being a renowned painter, Picasso is also a sculptor, printmaker, ceramics artist, etching artist, and writer. He's lived through two World Wars and the style of his masterpieces evolved from naturalism to Cubism to Surrealism and beyond.

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