Metadata

For this week’s metadata assignment, I chose to explore various artworks previously sold through Sotheby’s art auctions.

1. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Versus Medici

Artist: Jean-Michel Basquiat
Title: Versus Medici
Publication date: 1982
Size: 84 ¼ by 54 ¼ in., 214 by 137.8 cm.
Technique: acrylic, oilstick and paper collage on three joined canvases 
Provenance:
Larry Gagosian Gallery, New York
Stéphane Janssen (acquired from the above in October 1982)
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1990
Sold for: $50.8 million (2021)

Reference: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/contemporary-art-evening-auction/versus-medici-2

2. Claude Monet’s Mueles à Giverny

Artist: Claude Monet
Title: Meules à Giverny 
Publication date: 1893
Size: 25 ⅞ by 39 ½ in., 65.5 by 100.2 cm.
Technique: oil on canvas
Provenance:
Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired directly from the artist on 2 December 1893)
Dwight Blaney, Brookline (acquired from the above on 4 March 1895)
Walter I. Nichols, Boston, 12-15 June 1945, lot 645 (consigned by the estate of the above)
Doll and Richards, Inc., Boston (acquired at the above sale)
Knoedler & Co., New York (acquired from the above on 15 June 1945)
The Honorable and Mrs. John Hay Whitney, New York (acquired from the above on 4 January 1947)
Knoedler & Co., New York (acquired from the above)
Joseph B. Ridder, San Jose (acquired from the above on 2 December 1953)
Virginia Ridder, New York and Santa Barbara (ex-wife of the above)
Christie’s, New York, 15 November 1983, lot 56
Private Collection, United States
Acquired from the above in 2001 by the present owner
Sold for: $34.8 million (2024)

Reference: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/modern-evening-auction/meules-a-giverny

3. Pablo Picasso’s Garçon à la pipe

Artist: Pablo Picasso
Title: Garçon à la pipe
Publication date: 1982
Size: 39 ¼ by 32 in., 99.7 by 81.3 cm.
Technique: oil on canvas
Provenance:
Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Berlin (probably acquired circa 1910)
Countess Else Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Kesselstett (née Lavergne-Paguilhen), Berlin and Switzerland (by inheritance from the above)
Walter Feilchenfeldt, Zürich (acquired from the above)
Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney (acquired from the above on January 13, 1950)
Sold for: $104.2 million (2004)

Reference: https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2004/property-of-the-greentree-foundation-from-the-collection-of-mr-and-mrs-john-hay-whitney-impressionist-and-modern-art-n07989/lot.7.html