Renowned artist, Pablo Picasso, surrounded by his work.
Often hailed as an artistic genius, Pablo Picasso has good claim to be the most important and dominant artist of the 20th century, and his impact cannot be denied. Picasso was incredibly prolific, and his ceaseless experiments with styles, techniques, and artistic movements have continued to shape the direction of contemporary art in the fifty plus decades since his death.
Picasso is generally thought of as a painter, but he was skilled in many different mediums, including sculpture and printmaking. Prints, in fact, account for 56% of his work sold at auction, and they generally fetch between £1,000 and £5,000, though a significant proportion have reached up to £50,000.
Below is a list of Pablo Picasso’s five most expensive prints sold at auction. If you’d like to know more about how much a Picasso print might be worth, or how to sell it, contact Mark Littler today.
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Le Repas Frugal
Picasso displayed extraordinary artistic talent from a very young age, and this print is a testament to that. Created with little to no instruction when he was just 23 years old, this is only the second print Picasso ever created, yet it marked the start of his fascination with the medium, which he continued to explore throughout his long life.
The print features a nameless man alongside Picasso’s lover at the time (known only to us now as Madeleine). It is infused with a haunting, melancholic beauty, and it’s often viewed as a bridge between Picasso’s so-called Blue Period and his Rose Period. The earliest versions of Le Repas Frugal were printed in small numbers between 1904 and 1905; the plate was later bought by art dealer, Ambroise Vollard, who steel-faced it and had a larger edition printed, though the process meant some of the depth and detail of the image was lost. This print is one of the earlier impressions dating from 1904 or 1905, and it was sold by Christie’s in March 2022 for a staggering £5 million, double its top estimate
Le Repas Frugal sold by Christie’s in 2022
La Suite Vollard
This rare, complete set of 100 etchings was sold by Christie’s in November 2019 for £3,110,420. Picasso created the prints between 1930 and 1937, and he named them after Ambroise Vollard, who commissioned them. Vollard – the same man who bought the Le Repas Frugal plate – played a key role in Picasso’s career, from the moment he gave him his first solo show in 1901, when the young artist was still only 19, up until his own death in 1939. The series features a bizarre and wonderful collection of images, exploring innumerable themes, motifs, and ideas which obsessed Picasso during the years in which they were created.
La Suite Vollard sold by Christie’s in 2019
La Femme Qui Pleure I
On 26 April 1937, during the Spanish civil war, the Basque town of Guernica was brutally bombed by German forces at the request of Franco, killing many civilians and destroying much of the infrastructure. The event generated significant international media attention, and it provided an outraged Picasso with a subject for one of the most famous anti-war paintings ever created: Guernica.
The artist began making studies of La Femme Qui Pleure I (translating as ‘the weeping woman’) whilst painting Guernica. Though the weeping woman never appeared in Guernica, she would continue to haunt and obsess Picasso. He revisited the figure in countless drawings from this time, as well as one painting and a number of sought-after prints, including this one, which was sold by Sotheby’s in February 2014 for £2.8 million, £1 million above its top estimate.
La Femme Qui Pleure I sold by Sotheby’s in 2014
La Minotauromachie
This etching dates from 1935, a time which Picasso once described as “the worst period of my life”. The artist was notoriously promiscuous, and his tumultuous relationships and numerous affairs helped shape his image as the quintessential bohemian artist. Though his love affairs provided him with plenty of inspiration for his work, the chaos did not always equate to a happy personal life; by the time of this print, Picasso’s long-suffering first wife, a Russian ballet dancer, had finally left him after discovering that his young mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter, was pregnant.
The print features several themes and motifs which recur in Picasso’s work, including a minotaur and a young girl who can be viewed as a symbol of Marie-Thérèse. The turmoil in his personal life meant Picasso created very little art in 1935, turning to writing poetry instead. This print is an extraordinary exception in the hiatus, and it was sold by Christie’s in May 2016 for £1,523,060.
La Minotauromachie sold by Christie’s in 2016
Séries 347
Picasso died in April 1973 at the age of 91, and in the final years of his life, he devoted all his energies to his artistic endeavours. Daring, innovative, and prolific to the end, the deluge of artworks he produced in this time are now among his most respected and sought-after at auction.
Unbelievably, Picasso made this series of 347 etchings in a frantic burst of energy and creative fervour over the course of just seven months in 1968, to the exclusion of all other forms of art. In many ways a visual diary, the series is a remarkable display of the artist’s technical skill and devotion to his work; this rare complete set of 347 prints was sold by Christie’s in October 2021 for £1,308,609.
Series 347 sold by Christie’s in 2021
