Steve Wynn’s $70M Picasso pulled from auction after being damaged

Picasso's "Le Marin" at an auction in Hong Kong Getty Images

A $70 million Picasso belonging to embattled casino mogul Steve Wynn was pulled from an auction because it was damaged — a move that comes more than a decade after he put his elbow through another masterpiece by the artist.

The 1943 self-portrait “Le Marin,” or “The Sailor,” was withdrawn by Christie’s from its Tuesday auction for restoration after it was accidentally damaged, Fortune reported.

The painting was one of three owned by Wynn set to go under the hammer this week, with the total sale expected to be as high as $135 million.

Christie’s didn’t reveal the nature or extent of the damage on the work.

This isn’t the first time one of the billionaire’s Picassos has been marred.

In 2006, Wynn was all set to sell “La Rêve”— a 1932 portrait of Picasso’s mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter— to hedge-fund manager and art collector Steve Cohen for $139 million.

The weekend before money exchanged hands, Wynn had friends visiting his Las Vegas hotel and casino from New York — including Barbara Walters, the late journalist Nora Ephron and her husband, producer Nick Pileggi — and showed them the work.

While making a gesture with his right hand, Wynn told The New Yorker, his right elbow “punctured” the painting.

There was a distinct ripping sound, and Wynn turned to see Marie-Thérèse Walter’s left forearm with a 2-inch tear in it.

“We all just stopped,” he told the magazine. “I said, ‘I just can’t believe I just did that. Oh, s–t. Oh, man.’ ”

The work was patched up and ended up being sold to Cohen for $155 million in 2013.

Wynn, 76, suffers from a disease that affects his peripheral vision, which may have played a role in the cringeworthy incident.

In March, he unloaded his stakes in the company he founded, Wynn Resorts, amid a slew of misconduct allegations. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Not Again! Another Steve Wynn Picasso Damaged, Pulled from Auction

MAY 14, 2018 BY PHILIP CONNELLER

Has Steve Wynn inadvertently smashed another Picasso? The fallen casino tycoon has put his planned auction of the Modernist master’s Le Marin on hold after it was damaged on Friday, 12 years after Wynn put his elbow through another Picasso masterpiece, Le Rêve (The Dream).

Picasso’s Le Marin was expected to fetch $70 million at auction at Christies on Tuesday but it appears to have been damaged. The auction house declined to comment on whether Steve Wynn’s elbow was involved this time. (Image: Don Emmert/AFP)

Le Marin (The Sailor) is one of $150 million-worth of paintings Wynn hoped to auction at Christies this month, along with the Spanish painter’s 1964 portrait Femme au Chat Assise dans un Fauteuil (Woman with a Cat Sitting in an Armchair) and Andy Warhol’s Double Elvis [Ferus Type], a silkscreen portrait of Elvis Presley dressed as a cowboy drawing a six-shooter.

But Le Marin was to be the biggest draw and was expected to fetch the biggest price — experts valued it at $70 million. But Christies announced over the weekend it would be withdrawn from Tuesday’s auction to undergo restoration.

The auction house declined to comment on the cause or extent of the damage when contacted by Bloomberg on Sunday.

Steve Wynn Picasso Habit Becoming Expensive

Wynn, who has in the past exhibited his extensive fine art collection at Wynn Resorts’ casinos, damaged Le Rêve back in 2006, just before he was about to sell it to hedge fund manager Stephen A. Cohen for $139 million.

At the time, it would have been the highest price ever paid for a work of art, but the former casino mogul put his right elbow through the canvas while showing it off to friends in his office, creating a small hole. Wynn suffers from the degenerative eye disease, retinitis pigmentosa, which impacts his peripheral vision, and is registered blind.

After $90,000-worth of restoration work, Le Rêve was revalued at $85 million and Wynn sued his insurance company for the difference. He eventually sold the painting to Cohen in 2013, for $155 million.

Artworks Tied to Wynn Shares?   

It has been speculated that Wynn needs to sell the artworks because they are tied in some way to his equity in Wynn Resorts. He resigned from his roles as chairman and CEO of the company earlier this year and sold all his stock for $2.1 billion.

In January, a Wall Street Journal article accused him of engaging in a “decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct” against female employees.

His status as the company’s majority shareholder became untenable as the allegation sparked investigations by regulators in several jurisdictions, potentially threatening its gaming licenses.

Wynn denies all allegations against him.

12년전에도 이런 일이

스티브 윈이 소장했던 작품 중 가장 유명한 것은 피카소가 젊은 애인을 그린 '꿈(The Dream)'이었다.

윈은 이 작품을 1997년에 4800만 달러에 샀는데, 2006년에 이 작품을 팔겠다고 공개하면서 기자들에게 보여주다가 그만 자기 팔꿈치로 그림을 건드려 망가뜨린 것으로 유명하다. 즉각 보도가 되면서 이 그림은 전 세계적으로 더 유명해졌다. 그림을 복원하는 데 든 비용이 9만 달러였다고 한다. 그림 값은 떨어졌지만, 윈은 보험회사에 어마어마한 액수를 청구했기 때문에 금전적인 손해를 보지는 않은 것으로 알려졌다.