It’s not just the Armory that has a taste for the modern
By Cristina Ruiz. From Armory daily edition
Published online: 04 March 2009
He may be one of the world’s most expensive living artists but when it comes to spending his own millions, Jeff Koons turns to the classics. The New York-based artist has been revealed as the owner of this 1969 Picasso painting, The Kiss, currently on loan to the National Gallery in London as part of its exhibition on the Spanish artist (until 7 June). Koons bought the work at Sotheby’s New York in May 2008 for $17.4m.
Inspired by a Henri Rousseau self-portrait and a portrait of his wife, both of which were owned by Picasso, it is one of the master’s final depictions of lovers in a passionate embrace. Other works recently bought by Koons include a large limewood carving of St Catherine, dating from around 1505, by the German 16th-century sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider (acquired at Sotheby’s New York for $6.3m in January 2008) and an 1866 Gustave Courbet nude purchased at Sotheby’s London in June 2007 for £1.64m.
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