Picasso's Mistress

It took only 6 minutes for an anonymous phone bidder to cough up £25.2m ($40.7m) for Picasso's La Lecture (1932), which went under the hammer at Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in London yesterday. Once again it proves that there are people with more money than taste in the art market. Tax 'em! This painting is allegedly a portrait of Marie-Therese Walter, who became Picasso's mistress as a teenager. (Spaghetti PM Silvio Berlusconi isn't the only one who fancies 17-year-olds.) Had Picasso been a halfway decent painter, this "portrait" would not only give us an accurate record of Miss Walter's face, but also a strong indication of Picasso's love for her. (CLICK for a portrait which conveys to me an artist's affection for his sitter.)