Explore the Provenance of this artwork.
Pierre Colle of Paris acquired the painting by 1946. The painting was then obtained by Chicago collectors Leigh and Mary Block by 1947. They sold the painting in 1963. After that, the painting was never seen in public until the 21st century.During 2005 and 2006, Dora Maar au Chat, then owned by the Gidwitz family of Chicago, was shown worldwide as part of Sotheby's exhibitions in London, Hong Kong and New York. It came up for sale in an auction held at Sotheby's on 3 May 2006 in New York, making it the second-highest price ever paid for a painting at auction at the time. An anonymous Russian bidder who was present at the auction won the work with a final bid of $95,216,000, well exceeding the pre-auction estimate of $50 million. The identity of the bidder, who also purchased an 1883 Monet seascape and a 1978 Chagall, was a topic of much speculation. The winning buyer is listed as Georgian businessman and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Bidzina Ivanishvili Dora Maar Chagall Monet Gidwitz family Sotheby's Leigh and Mary Block