Reading was made in 1932, depicting the blonde lover of Picasso Marie Therese Walter dozing off on the read chair with her chest half open and a book kept in her knee.
Reading
This painting is with very beautiful curves and rich colors, and behind it there is a fascinating story. In January 1927, Picasso who was 45 years old met Walter 17 years younger than him in a subway station of Paris. Although Picasso had married with the Russian ballet dancer Olga Khokhlva for nearly 10 years and had a 5-year-old son, he still held Walter's arms, said, "I am Picasso! You and I will make good things together." From then on, Walter became a great painter's Secret lover. In 1932, Picasso exhibited Reading in Paris and had won wide acclaim. Later this painting was bought by an American collector. But Olga also revealed that his husband's cheat on her in the half-naked posture of the painting. Soon, she left Picasso with a son, but until she died in 1955, she and Picasso had not officially divorced.
Walter and Picasso's relationship was not going smoothly. In 1935, Walter gave birth to a daughter for Picasso. Although these two people continued to keep in contact, Picasso started to love another woman. Picasso died in 1973 and she also committed suicide 4 years later. Reading was made a deal on Feb.8, 2011 in British London with the starting price of 9 million pounds. Within 6 minutes, there were at least 7 buyers from all over the world. It was finally purchased by a Russian client by phone with the price of 25 million pounds.
