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The Picasso Auction

On 21 June 2011 , the painting Jeune fille endormie was auctioned by Christie's in London. The work, by Pablo Picasso, was donated to the University on the strict understanding that it would be sold and the proceeds use to fund scientific research.

The sale of the painting raised £13.5 million (A$20.6 million as at June 2011) which will allow for multiple endowed chairs across several disciplines within the new Charles Perkins Centre. Read the 22 June news story.

In Sydney, around 400 University staff gathered in the Great Hall to watch a video replay of the auction footage, introduced by Professor Jill Trewhella, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research). A healthy breakfast was served, in keeping with the vision of the new centre. These are some of the photos taken that morning.

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About 'Jeune fille endormie'

Here are some background facts about the painting.

  • Jeune fille endormie, 1935, is an intimate portrait of the artist's lover, Marie-Thérèse Walter, who is the subject of many of the most celebrated paintings by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973).
  • Executed in bold, expressionist colours and brush strokes, the painting shows Marie-Thérèse asleep and offers an evocative glimpse of the lovers' intimate universe.
  • The painting has resided in just two private collections since it was painted. It was originally acquired by Walter P Chrysler Jr soon after it was painted, and then changed hands just once before it was donated to the University of Sydney in 2010.
  • It was shown at the celebrated Picasso retrospective at New York's MoMA in 1939, which toured to Chicago, St Louis and Boston in 1940. It was then included in an exhibition of works from the Chrysler Collection in 1941, and has since been hidden from view in a private collection.
  • The painting was auctioned by Christie's at its Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale on 21 June 2011 in London. The proceeds of the sale of the Picasso will create multiple endowed chairs across several disciplines within a new University of Sydney multidisciplinary centre dedicated to research into obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
  • Giovanna Bertazzoni, Director and Head of Impressionist and Modern Art, Christie's London describes the painting as follows:
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