New York.- Chinese movie tycoon Wang Zhongjun was the buyer of the $29.9 million Pablo Picasso canvas auctioned off from the Goldwyn family collection on at Sotheby''s New York, the auction house has announced. The 1948 canvas, titled Femme au Chignon Dans un Fauteuil, or "Woman with a hairbun on a sofa," a portrait of the artist's lover Françoise Gilot was purchased in 1956 by Samuel Goldwyn Sr., founder of the Goldwyn Hollywood film dynasty and the G in M.G.M.
Following the death of producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr. earlier this year, the Goldwyn collection will be featured in no less than nine Sotheby's auctions by year's end.
Zhongjun already made headlines this past year when he picked up Vincent van Gogh's 1890 painting Still Life, Vase with Daises and Poppies for $61.8 million (see Chinese Film Magnate Buys Van Gogh for $62 Million).
The media mogul chairman and co-founder of Huayi Brothers Media Group, a major Chinese movie company is one of his country's richest men. Recently, he has become more involved in Western cinema, financing Fury, starring Brad Pitt.
"I first fell in love with the painting and then I fell in love with its story," the collector said in a statement. "The Goldwyn family is legendary in our industry and in this one work, I can see not only Pablo Picasso's genius, but also Samuel Goldwyn Sr.'s creative vision."
Related Publications
