After Picasso’s withdrawn Harlequin, Sotheby’s New York auction, despite the high level of pieces put up for auction, seemed to have taken a worrying turn as at the last moment it was stripped of one of its most prestigious paintings.
Actually, the auction achieved a discrete success, untangling even the last fears and predictions on the trend of the art market, establishing 3 records in a single session and totalling 223,812,500 dollars.

A precious painting by Pablo Picasso was the announced star of Sotheby’s upcoming auction to be held on 3rd November in New York. In just a few days Sotheby’s will put up for auction all high-level proposals, in the session dedicated to impressionist and modern art, which includes in its élitist range of choices various pieces by Degas, Munch, Matisse, Van Gogh, Monet, Kandinskij and Picasso.
Yesterday, a sudden and unexpected change of course was announced, then published on the New York Times, regarding the piece that was considered one of the highlights of the event: Picasso’s “Arlequin” from 1909 has been withdrawn from the auction; this painting was estimated at more than 30 million dollars, equivalent to about 24 million euros.

Washington and Piacenza, apparently two places that having nothing to do with each other, but now have a common denominator, proposed by an exhibition that celebrates simultaneously in the same venue art masterpieces from these cities.  From 15th September to 18th January 2009 Palazzo Baldeschi al Corso in Perugia is hosting the exhibition “Corot to Picasso. Fattori to De Pisis” dedicated to the famous American Phillips Collection and to the Italian Collection of Ricci Oddi .
The exhibition, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi, is promoted by the Foundation Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia which is thus celebrating the Saving Bank’s 100th year.

In Paris an exceptional foursome is preparing to celebrate the talent and genius of the great Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). Four famous museums of the beautiful French capital will host, from the 8th October, an exhibition, “Picasso and masters”, dedicated to the Spanish artist and his creative dialogue with masterpieces seen and appreciated by him.   The main theme of the exhibition will be the confrontation between Picassan works and masterpieces by great artists such as Courbet, David, El Greco, Goya, Rembrandt, Velàzquez, Delacroix, Ingres, Cézanne, Matisse, Manet and others from whom he drew inspiration.

Last 1st June the world of fashion came to a halt to commemorate the death of Yves Saint Laurent, the French fashion designer considered one of the greatest fashion creators of the twentieth century who started his career at the Christian Dior maison to then found the homonymous label (Yves Saint Laurent) with his life and business partner Pierre Bergè.
His mark in the world of fashion and luxury remains recognizable and his name will always be symbol of style, becoming symbol of sophisticated but also innovative elegance.

Until 27th August, the city of Basel is hosting an extraordinary exhibition dedicated to French artist Robert Delaunay. Thanks to the curator Roland Wetzel, the Kunstmuseum of Basel has organized “Robert Delaunay: hommage à Blèriot,” an event that displays the eight compositions of the homonymous series, put together for the occasion with other masterpieces of Delaunay’s other series and with works of his contemporaries Vasilij Kandinskij, Fernand Lèger and futurist Luigi Russolo. Moreover, the Centre Pompidou of Paris has lent “Prismes èlectriques”, the painting that the artist’s wife, Sonia Delaunay-Terk, exposed at the Salon des indèpendants next to her husband’s “Homage à Blèriot”.