Updated posts August 2026
Picasso’s “Femme à la montre” Heads to Auction With a $120 Million Estimate
A masterpiece by Picasso, titled “Femme à la montre,” is set for auction this fall, with estimates exceeding $120 million. This stunning 1932 oil painting will take the spotlight at Sotheby’s in New York this November, part of the Emily Fisher Landau collection.
Measuring 51¼ by 38 inches, the artwork portrays Picasso’s muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter, who played a central role in his art during this period. Sotheby’s notes the piece comes from Picasso’s prolific 1932 period, a body of work celebrated in a 2018 exhibition.
Julian Dawes, Sotheby’s Head of Impressionist and Modern Art for the Americas, called the painting a masterpiece radiating joyful, passionate energy.
A Love Story Behind the Canvas
Picasso and Walter’s story began in Paris in 1927, while he was still married. Walter became his primary source of inspiration, a relationship that ultimately led to the end of his marriage. He painted “Femme à la montre” in August 1932, shortly after a major retrospective of his work in Paris.
Sotheby’s describes the painting as reflecting Picasso’s liberation from secrecy, visible in its vibrant colors and meticulous detail, a shift that coincided with his relationship with Walter becoming public. Both Picasso and Walter have since passed away.
Part of a Major Collection
The painting is among 120 pieces from Emily Fisher Landau’s collection, valued at more than $400 million in total. Fisher Landau began collecting art following an armed robbery in 1969, a moment that reportedly shaped her lifelong relationship with acquiring and preserving art.
Why Walter’s Portraits Command Such High Prices
What consistently drives such high estimates for Picasso’s portraits of Marie-Thérèse Walter isn’t simply their artistic quality, but the historical significance tied to this particular chapter of his career. This period marked a documented turning point in both his personal life and his stylistic evolution, and paintings capturing that transition tend to carry added weight with collectors seeking pieces tied to pivotal moments in an artist’s development.
In previous auctions, Picasso’s portraits of Walter have consistently fetched significant prices. “Femme assise près d’une fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse)” sold for $103.41 million in 2021, and “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” sold for $106.5 million in 2010. In 2015, “Les femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’)” set a record, selling for $179.4 million.
