This market is a duel between two of the most famous artists in history—Pablo Picasso, and Claude Monet. They each have a work listed for sale at Sotheby's

"Modern Evening Auction" in New York.

• Pablo Picasso - Femme au chapeau

• Claude Monet - Bennecourt

Both were given the same estimate by Sotheby's: 6,000,000 - 8,000,000 USD. This market resolves to the painting which sells for a higher value at auction.

Resolution details:

• Example from a past auction: This painting by Vigée Le Brun sold for 3,085,000 USD. This is the equivalent number I will use.

• Edge cases:

  • If one fails to sell for any reason, it resolves to the other.

  • If there's a tie (or they both fail to sell), both resolve at 50%.

  • If any scenarios for resolution are unclear, please ask.

Pablo Picasso - Femme au chapeau

Femme au chapeau was painted in 1941 at the apex of one of Picasso’s most productive periods, invigorated in large part by his turbulent relationship with Maar. As contempt grew between the two lovers, Picasso’s flattering early depictions of Maar gave way to unsettling visions of the weeping woman, transcending Maar’s image into the mater dolorosa, a universal icon of pain and suffering (see fig. 2). Charged with an unparalleled emotional intensity, representations of Maar such as Femme au chapeau give form to the anxiety and despair looming within the public consciousness during the Second World War.

Claude Monet - Bennecourt

Claude Monet’s Bennecourt is an impressive, square format composition from 1887, in which the artist captures a fleeting view of the village of Bennecourt through a screen of foliage. Composed of slender tree trunks that provide a vertical momentum that in turn overlays horizontal bands of forest floor, village and sky, the present work is a symphonic expression of greens and yellows, rich purples, reds and blues, painted with all of Monet’s characteristic complex energy. Presaging revolutionary developments in painting both within Monet’s own generation and those to come, Bennecourt is the epitome of the artist’s best work en plein air.

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