Marina Picasso Sells the Family Jewels

Pablo Picasso’s granddaughter, Marina Picasso, has put a significant share of her private collection up for sale on the quiet, or so say Ian Mohr and Emily Smith, two journalists from the New York Post. Apparently, Pablo Picasso’s granddaughter, whose father was born of the painter’s love story with his first wife, Ukranian dancer Olga Khokhlova, is looking to sell seven major works that her grandfather painted between 1905 and 1965. The works, which include Femme à la Mandoline (Mademoiselle Léonie assise), 1911, Maternité, 1921, and Portrait de femme (Olga), 1923, have an estimated worth of over $290 million (€245 million). In her memoires, Picasso’s heir, who owns over 11,000 works by the artist, including close to 400 paintings, talked about her grandfather’s difficult relationship with her family. The artist abandoned his wife after his only son was born and she was never able to move on since Picasso refused to divorce her for fear of her taking half of his fortune. Marina Picasso‘s father, an inveterate alcoholic, passed away at the age of 54. Her brother, Pablito, died in agony three months after drinking a bottle of bleach on the day he learned of his grandfather’s death. Since 1990, Marina Picasso has devoted a large portion of her time to her foundation for abandoned children in Vietnam, building orphanages and paediatric hospitals throughout the country. It would be wonderful if the profits from the sale of the paintings were able to help further.