Pablo Picasso - Garçon à la pipe. Boy with a Pipe 1905
Garçon à la pipe. Boy with a Pipe 1905
100x81cm oil/canvas
Sold for: USD 104.2 million
Auction house: Sotheby's, New York
Sale date: 4 May 2004
Seller: Greentree foundation, Whitney family
Buyer: Barilla Group
Early preparations of this work involved positioning the boy in all types of poses that involved standing, sitting or leaning against the wall. After much repositioning of the model, Picasso decided to go with the boy sitting down. Next was how to position the arm, where much time was also spent on the height and angle. Early works do not show any objects other than a pipe being used.
Although Picasso started to paint this picture, he gave it a rest period for about a month. During this time, Picasso decided to finish it off by placing a garland of flowers on the boy's head.