Art News. Vasari Codex

trending_up market schedule Mar 30, 2026 visibility 22 link 15 artists, 4 galleries

Joan Mitchell becomes most expensive female artist at auction in Asia with US$17.6m Sotheby's sale

Joan Mitchell’s diptych "La Grande Vallée VII" sold for HK$137 million (US$17.6 million) at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, setting a new record for the most expensive work by a female artist ever sold at auction in Asia. The 1983 masterpiece, part of a celebrated 21-painting cycle dedicated to a grieving friend, led a successful Modern and Contemporary Evening Auction that saw a 100% sell-through rate for its 54 lots. Other notable results included a Mark Rothko canvas that more than doubled its low estimate and significant sales for works by Sanyu and Zao Wou-Ki.

newspaper TheValue.com open_in_new Read original

Picasso painting not seen in 80 years heads to auction in France

A Picasso painting unseen for over 80 years, *Buste de femme au chapeau à fleurs (Dora Maar)* (1943), will be auctioned at the Drouot salesroom in Paris on 24 October by Lucien Paris auction house. The work, depicting the artist's lover and muse Dora Maar, has been held in a private French collection since 1944 and carries an estimate of €8 million. The auction catalogue includes an authentication certificate from the Comité Picasso and notes the painting was documented in *Cahiers d’art* and photographed by Brassaï.