“Le Rêve,” Picasso’s 1932 portrait of his mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter is owned by Steve Wynn, the casino magnate and collector of masterpieces. He acquired it in a private sale in 2001 from an anonymous art collector, who had bought it at auction in 1997 for $48.4 million. Recently, Wynn decided that he’d like to sell it, along with several other museum-quality art he owns. A friend of his, the hedge-fund mogul and avid collector Steven Cohen, had coveted “Le Rêve” for years, so Cohen agreed to pay $139 million dollars for it, the highest known price ever paid for a work of art.
That weekend, Wynn had some friends staying at his hotel and casino in Las Vegas. As they had dinner together on Friday night, Wynn told them about the sale and offered to show them the Picasso.. Standing in front of it, he made a gesture with his right hand - there was a distinct ripping sound - and a two-inch tear appeared in the $139 million dollars painting. He told his guests, “Well, I’m glad I did it and not you.” Later Wynn was in a cheerful mood. “My feeling was, it’s a picture, it’s my picture, we’ll fix it. Nobody got sick or died. It’s a picture. It took Picasso five hours to paint it.” A six-litre bottle of Bordeaux was ordered, and when it was empty everyone signed the label, to commemorate the calamitous afternoon. Wynn signed it “Mary, it’s all about scale—Steve.” The painting wound up in the hands of an art restorer, who has told Wynn that when he’s done with it, in six or eight weeks, you won’t be able to tell that Wynn’s elbow had passed through Marie-Thérèse Walter’s left forearm. Wynn’s wife later turned to him in bed and said, “I consider this whole thing to be a sign of fate. Please don’t sell the picture.” Later that morning, Wynn called Cohen and told him he wanted to keep the painting, after all.
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Irish Art
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Wednesday
Billionaire Rips Art Masterpiece
“Le Rêve,” Picasso’s 1932 portrait of his mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter is owned by Steve Wynn, the casino magnate and collector of masterpieces. He acquired it in a private sale in 2001 from an anonymous art collector, who had bought it at auction in 1997 for $48.4 million. Recently, Wynn decided that he’d like to sell it, along with several other museum-quality art he owns. A friend of his, the hedge-fund mogul and avid collector Steven Cohen, had coveted “Le Rêve” for years, so Cohen agreed to pay $139 million dollars for it, the highest known price ever paid for a work of art.
That weekend, Wynn had some friends staying at his hotel and casino in Las Vegas. As they had dinner together on Friday night, Wynn told them about the sale and offered to show them the Picasso.. Standing in front of it, he made a gesture with his right hand - there was a distinct ripping sound - and a two-inch tear appeared in the $139 million dollars painting. He told his guests, “Well, I’m glad I did it and not you.” Later Wynn was in a cheerful mood. “My feeling was, it’s a picture, it’s my picture, we’ll fix it. Nobody got sick or died. It’s a picture. It took Picasso five hours to paint it.” A six-litre bottle of Bordeaux was ordered, and when it was empty everyone signed the label, to commemorate the calamitous afternoon. Wynn signed it “Mary, it’s all about scale—Steve.” The painting wound up in the hands of an art restorer, who has told Wynn that when he’s done with it, in six or eight weeks, you won’t be able to tell that Wynn’s elbow had passed through Marie-Thérèse Walter’s left forearm. Wynn’s wife later turned to him in bed and said, “I consider this whole thing to be a sign of fate. Please don’t sell the picture.” Later that morning, Wynn called Cohen and told him he wanted to keep the painting, after all.
For the full story - click the title
Irish Art
