Rose-Period Picasso Heads for Auction Block

The family that sold Vincent van Gogh’s “Irises” for $53.9 million two years ago will put a rose-period Picasso on the block Nov. 15 at Sotheby’s New York. “Au Lapin Agile,” a 1905 self-portrait expected to bring around $40 million or $50 million, has become “too expensive to keep,” said Linda de Roulet, owner of the painting, in a prepared statement.

De Roulet, who inherited the Picasso from her mother, Joan Whitney Payson, is following in the footsteps of her brother, John Whitney Payson, who inherited “Irises” from the family collection. He sold “Irises” for a record price after another Van Gogh, “Sunflowers,” brought $39.9 million at auction.

De Roulet’s statement said she was persuaded to part with “Au Lapin Agile” after another early Picasso self-portrait, “Yo Picasso,” sold in May for $47.85 million.

Also like her brother, who established a charitable foundation from the proceeds of “Irises,” De Roulet will set up a foundation for medical research and education. AIDS research and the research unit of North Shore University Hospital at Cornell University Medical School will benefit from the the new Patrina Foundation, said John Whitney Payson, speaking by telephone for his sister. Other causes will be decided on a case-by-case basis as applications for grants are received, he said.

The family isn’t distressed about breaking up the family collection, Payson said. “I’m sure Linda will feel as I did when I sold ‘Irises.’ I felt a kind of loss at first, but when I saw the grant applications come in and the potential of the funds, it was very exciting. It’s an upbeat thing.”

“Au Lapin Agile” is considered one of the most important rose-period Picassos in private hands. Picasso painted it the year after he left Barcelona for Paris. Living with his mistress, Fernande Olivier, in the dilapidated building known as the Bateau Lavoir, the young artist frequented a local circus and began to paint harlequin figures.

In the gaily colored 39 x 39 1/2-inch oil, Picasso depicted himself as a brooding harlequin standing at a bar. A woman beside him is said to be Germaine Pichot, a model whom Picasso blamed for the 1901 death of his friend and fellow artist Carlos Casegemas, who was in love with her.

“Au Lapin Agile” (“The Lively Rabbit”) is named for a Montmartre cafe that is still in operation and once featured a sign picturing a rabbit in a saucepan. Picasso originally gave the painting to Frederic Gerard, the proprietor of the bohemian cafe who hung it there. Gerard is seen in the back of the picture, strumming his guitar.

The painting subsequently passed through two private collections before Joan Whitney Payson bought it in 1952. She was a philanthropist for civic and medical institutions, a breeder of race horses and owner of the New York Mets baseball team, as well as a formidable art collector.

Joan Whitney Payson was known to collect Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works, including paintings by Gauguin and Rousseau, in addition to Van Gogh and Picasso.

John Whitney Payson was only 12 when his mother bought “Au Lapin Agile,” but he recalls the delivery of a big crate to their home in Manhasset, N.Y. “Unfortunately I was probably more interested in the truck that delivered it than I was in the painting, so my memories aren’t very clear,” he said.

Payson does remember that the painting hung in a hallway near the entrance to the library, where the family spent a great deal of time. Old family photos show that at one point “Au Lapin Agile” and “Irises” shared a wall.

Linda de Roulet, who lives in New York, resided in Los Angeles in the ‘50s with her late husband, Vincent de Roulet. She inherited the painting in 1975 at the death of her mother and has carried on Joan Whitney Payson’s philanthropic activities, serving on hospital and museum boards. De Roulet was president of the New York Mets from 1975 until the team was sold in 1980.

Is “Au Lapin Agile” just the second tip of the Payson iceberg? Will other family treasures be offered for sale in the future?

“No other paintings are under consideration right now,” Payson said.