Christie’s to auction nine masterpieces valued at $100 million under ‘Heroes and Lovers’ banner
A Picasso painting from 1969 and a rare Old Master sculpture lead a collection spanning 500 years that will be exhibited globally before selling in November.
Christie’s is offering nine masterpieces collectively valued at approximately $100 million under the title Heroes and Lovers, a collection that spans from the fifteenth century through the twentieth. Seven works will anchor the house’s November 20th Century Evening Sale in New York, while two Old Master pieces will be featured in Classic Week in 2027.
The collection traces moments of passion, courage and connection across six influential artists. The leading lot is Le Baiser, a Picasso painted in October 1969 that depicts two figures locked in an embrace. Created four years before the artist’s death, the work functions as both a personal gesture toward Jacqueline, Picasso’s wife and final major muse, and a reflection of the vitality he sustained throughout his career.
The Collection’s Scope
A second Picasso in the group, Tête de femme (Dora Maar), portrays the artist’s wartime companion, the Surrealist photographer Dora Maar. Painted in May 1941 during the Nazi Occupation of Paris, the work captures Maar’s tear-streaked face in bold, angular forms. The portrait emerged during a period of worsening circumstances in the occupied city, as Picasso devoted himself wholly to his artistic practice.
The Old Master contingent is led by Hercules and Achelous, a canvas by Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem depicting a clash between the mythological hero and the river god, drawn from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. It subsequently spent years on long-term loan at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Marking a first for Old Master sculpture in Christie’s November marquee sales is Saint Catherine by Tilman Riemenschneider, a Late Gothic limewood figure. The German woodcarver’s delicate carving displays the detailed surface work and expressive qualities that defined his reputation as one of the period’s most accomplished sculptors.
Exhibition and Sale Schedule
The collection embarks on a global tour beginning October 6 with Hong Kong, followed by London, Paris and Taipei. All nine works will be displayed at Christie’s Rockefeller Center headquarters in New York in November alongside the full marquee week exhibition before the sale.
The collection also includes works by François Le Moyne and Jean-Honoré Fragonard, as well as two additional Picassos beyond those already named, completing a selection that the house frames as an exploration of extreme and intimate human experience across half a millennium of artistic practice.
This article was compiled by the CityLifeBytes editorial desk from the official announcements and reporting listed under Sources.
