In 1968, the estate of American writer and collector Gertrude Stein came up for sale in 1968, and David Rockefeller, Sr. formed a syndicate of fellow Museum of Modern Art trustees to buy it. The auspicious group, which also included William S. Paley, Nelson Rockefeller and John Hay Whitney, agreed to draw numbers from a hat to determine the selection order. David Rockefeller drew first pick and he chose Pablo Picasso’s “Young Girl with a Flower Basket.” Painted in 1905 during the artist’s rose period, the portrait is a “tender and haunting depiction” of a nude girl with a basket of red blossoms, writes Bloomberg. The philanthropist’s son, David Rockefeller, Jr., told Bloomberg that buying the painting probably represented the most “expensive single set of investments [his father] made in art.”
Pablo Picasso’s masterpiece ‘Fillette à la corbeille fleurie (Young Girl with a Flower Basket)’ was acquired by David Rockefeller in 1968. The painting went on to hang in the library of his and Peggy’s New York townhouse for the rest of their lives. pic.twitter.com/LXGMagGpOF
— Christie’s (@ChristiesInc) May 3, 2018
Now the seminal work is the star in his parents’ collection, which is going on the block starting May 8 at Christie’s. That Picasso, estimated to be worth $100 million, is the highest valued of more than 1,500 Rockefeller lots. Other items up for auction include Impressionist masterpieces, duck decoys and the dinner service that Napoleon took to his exile in Elba.
“Young Girl” is among 45 Picasso works in total, which are estimated to fetch more than $300 million at New York auctions over the next two weeks. This year has been one of the best ever for the Spanish painter, with $212 million in Picasso works having already sold at auction this year.
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
