Sotheby’s has announced the sale of Pablo Picasso’s 1909 Cubist masterpiece, Arlequin (Buste), which is expected to fetch approximately $40 million during the New York marquee auctions this May. The painting is the crown jewel of a collection belonging to the late Surrealist artist Enrico Donati and his wife Adele. This marks the second time Sotheby’s has attempted to sell the work; it was famously withdrawn from a 2008 auction just a week before the sale due to undisclosed private reasons.
The return of this work to the market is significant due to its provenance and the shift in financial strategy surrounding its sale. Unlike the 2008 attempt, the painting now carries a guarantee and an irrevocable bid, ensuring it will sell and reflecting a more cautious but secured approach in the current high-stakes auction climate. The sale also includes notable works by Wassily Kandinsky and Yves Tanguy, signaling a major liquidation of the Donati estate's blue-chip Surrealist and Modernist holdings.