Bellagio’s Picasso Restaurant Sells Picasso Collection for $109 Million | Eater Vegas

"In the largest fine art auction ever to take place in Las Vegas, Sotheby’s sold off 11 Pablo Picasso works that had been on display at the restaurant, staging a custom recreation of its well-known auction room in one of the Bellagio’s ballrooms to coincide with what would have been the cubist master’s 140th birthday. Sotheby’s estimated the lots at around $104 million and achieved a final haul just short of $110 million; the top-earning piece was the 1938 portrait Femme au béret rouge-orange, which sold for $40.5 million. The event included an after-party with DJ Florian Picasso spinning and cabaret dancers entertaining, and MGM Resorts says it will use the proceeds to build a more diverse art collection that gives greater voice to artists from under-represented communities." - Stephanie Carter