Some of you may be familiar with the sentence “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.” If you’ve ever sought a grammatically correct sentence consisting of one word, look no further. Now, something similar is happening in the art world, where a host of paintings by Picasso (the artist) that belong to Picasso (the restaurant) are heading to auction. If only one of them was a self-portrait — or there was an auction house named in honor of the artist in question — the buffalo from Buffalo might have a run for their money.
Instead, we’ll have to console ourselves with the prospect of 11 paintings from one of the 20th century’s most notable artists hitting the art market. At Eater, Susan Stapleton reports that a forthcoming auction at Sotheby’s will include 11 paintings from the collection of the Bellagio’s restaurant Picasso.
The auction is set to take place on October 23, at the Bellagio — and, as the Eater article notes, it’ll be the first auction Sotheby’s has held in North America outside of its own auction space. The event is designed to commemorate the 140th anniversary of Picasso’s birth — which was on October 25, 1881 — and the paintings being sold will be on display from the 21st through the 23rd.
The 11 paintings are estimated to total around $104 million in value. MGM Resorts announced that they’re planning to use the proceeds to expand and diversify their art collection. As for diners hoping to see a Picasso when they go to Picasso, this auction shouldn’t change much — the MGM Resorts collection has 12 more Picassos set to be displayed there.
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