Picasso Blue Period Painting sets Auction Record

One of the greatest paintings form the Picasso Blue Period sold for a record $55 Million in an auction at Christie's in the fall of 2001. The sale of Woman with Crossed Arms made this the most expensive Picasso painting ever sold and the fifth most expensive piece of work ever auctioned. The painting was the best Picasso Blue Period painting that had come to auction since the 1950s.

While the identity of the woman in the painting is unknown, the inspiration for the Picasso Blue Period came from the tragic suicide of his friend and roommate Carlos Casagemas. Only 19 years old at the age of his death, the young Picasso then went through a 3 year period in which all of his paintings were awash with blue shades suggesting the misery and grief of his subjects.