''Les Noces de Pierrette'' ( English:''The marriage of Pierrette'') is a 1905 painting by the Spanish artist and sculptor

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

. While belonging chronologically to Picasso's Rose Period, it is artistically characteristic of the Blue Period, when the artist faced poverty and depression following the suicide of his friend Carlos Casagemas in 1901.

Sales history

The painting was acquired in 1907 by Josef Stránský, an art dealer and a friend of Picasso's. From 1945 to 1962, the painting was owned by Picasso's son Paulo Picasso. Around 1930, Georges Renand, owner of

La Samaritaine La Samaritaine (French pronunciation: a samaʁitɛn is a large department store in Paris, France, located in the first arrondissement. The nearest métro station is Pont-Neuf, directly in front at the quai du Louvre and the rue de la Monnaie ...

department store, purchased the work. The painting was owned by the Swedish investment banker and merchant Fredrik Roos when it was sold at Binoche et Godeau in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

on November 30, 1989. The buyer,

Tomonori Tsurumaki Tomonori is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Tomonori can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Some examples: *友則, "friend, rule" *友紀, "friend, chronicle" *友憲, "friend, constitution" * ...

, a real-estate developer, investment banker and owner of

Autopolis is a international racing circuit located near Kamitsue village in Ōita Prefecture, Japan on the Northeast of Kumamoto. Nippon Autopolis">F1 News - Grandprix.com > GP Encyclopedia > Circuits > Nippon Autopolis/ref> Tsurumaki ordered 30 Bui ...

racetrack, purchased the painting for the sum of $51,670,000, making it one of the world's most expensive paintings. With the collapse of Tsurumaki's company, Nippon Tri-Trust, the painting ended up in the hands of the construction company Hazama, which had constructed Tsurumaki's racetrack. Hazama, having run into financial difficulties, put the painting up as collateral when the firm took a loan from Lake Credit Company. Thus, Lake Credit Company came into possession of '' Les Noces de Pierrette''. When Lake Credit Company sold its stake in the mainline consumer loan business to

GE Capital GE Capital is the financial services division of General Electric. The company currently only runs one division, GE Energy Financial Services. It had provided additional services in the past; however, those units were sold between 2013 and 2018. ...

, '' Les Noces de Pierrette'' (along with 500 other paintings worth approximately $200 million) became the property of GE Capital. Presently, ''Les Noces de Pierrette'' is secured in the vault of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings (formerly the Mitsui Trust Bank). It was offered at $54 million in 1994 with no takers, and again, also with no takers in 1997 at $35 million. The Japanese operation of GE Capital was subsequently sold to

Shinsei Bank is a leading diversified Japanese financial institution that provides a full range of financial products and services to both institutional and individual customers. It is owned by SBI Group and headquartered in Chuo, Tokyo. History SBI Shinse ...

in 2008, along with its art collection portfolio.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noces de Pierrette Paintings by Pablo Picasso 1905 paintings Paintings in Japan

Sales history

See also

References