Just ran into the guy who wielded the gavel for the most expensive piece of auctioned artwork in history (the $106.5 million Picasso) in the lowliest spot on earth: the sub- concourse of Penn Station. Congratulations to Claverack’s Christopher Burge of Christie’s on this smashing success.
Christopher mentioned that the painting, Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust, had been hidden away in a private collection for fifty years—having been dashed off by the master in 1932 on the eve of a retrospective, much with an eye toward one-upping Matisse.
(NOTE: Regular Amtrak riders know that this lower route is the secret way to find the right track for Hudson-bound trains before they are posted, and thus get a prime seat).
