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 Steve Wynn’s plan to sell a pair of Picasso paintings for a high estimate of $105 million was derailed after the more expensive of the two was damaged Friday -- a dozen years after the billionaire collector and erstwhile casino magnate put his elbow through another masterpiece by the artist. 
 
 Picasso’s 1943 self-portrait "Le Marin" Source: Christie’s 
 
 “Le Marin,” a 1943 self-portrait, was damaged Friday “during the final stages of preparation” for auction Tuesday and pulled from the block, Christie’s said in a statement. It declined to comment on the nature or extent of the damage. Lin Wood, a spokesman for Wynn, declined to comment. 
 
 The painting, which measures a little more than 4-by-2 1/2 feet and estimated at $70 million, was one of three Wynn consigned to Christie’s for sale this week for a total of as much as $135 million, according to the auction house’s estimates. On Monday, Picasso’s 1964 portrait of a woman with a cat, “Femme au chat assise dans un fauteuil,” was also pulled from the auction by mutual agreement with the seller, Christie’s said. That piece, also owned by Wynn, is estimated at $25 million to $35 million. 
 
 Wynn, who suffers from a disease that affects his peripheral vision, accidentally struck his Picasso “Le Reve” with his right elbow in 2006 while showing it to friends in his Las Vegas office, leaving a hole the size of a silver dollar. The painting had been worth $139 million before that, according to Wynn’s lawsuit against the insurer, Lloyd’s of London. A restorer said the repaired painting was worth $85 million, according to the lawsuit. Hedge fund titan Steve Cohen bought it from Wynn in 2013 for $155 million. 
 
 “Femme au chat assise dans un fauteuil” Photographer: Katya Kazakina/Bloomberg 
 
 Both withdrawn paintings had been guaranteed by Christie’s and backed by third-party guarantees. The withdrawal of a work from sale removes any guarantee made for the transaction, Christie’s said, adding that its consignment contracts “have insurance provisions to cover damage and other contingencies.” 
 
 Wynn resigned as chief executive officer of Wynn Resorts Ltd. in February amid sexual-misconduct allegations. He has denied wrongdoing. 
 
 The other Wynn lot at Christie’s is Andy Warhol’s 1963 “Double Elvis [Ferus Type],” which will be offered as planned at the postwar and contemporary evening sale on May 17, Christie’s said. Estimated at more than $30 million, it depicts Elvis Presley dressed as a cowboy and shooting from the hip. 
 
 The painting last appeared at auction in 2012 when it fetched $37 million at Sotheby’s. At the time it was bought by the Mugrabi family, which owns one of the world’s largest private Warhol collections. 
 
 — With assistance by Peter Jeffrey ||||| Former casino mogul Steve Wynn is incandescent after Christie’s staff allegedly allowed a metal rod to pierce through a priceless Picasso masterpiece he planned to sell for $100 million. 
 
 Sources say Wynn’s 1943 Picasso self-portrait, “Le Marin,” was severely damaged while stored at the auction house, as a metal extension pole for a wall paint roller allegedly fell on the canvas, creating a “significant hole” in the masterpiece. 
 
 The catastrophe uncoiled as Christie’s staff prepared to exhibit the artwork ahead of the auction. 
 
 This comes years after Wynn put his elbow through another Picasso masterpiece, “Le Rêve,” in 2006, leaving a silver-dollar-size hole. It was repaired and sold in 2013 for $155 million. 
 
 Wynn, 76, fears “Le Marin” is so badly damaged that it may be beyond repair. He also believes Christie’s may be low-balling him by valuing it at $70 million, while he insists it could have fetched more than $100 million at the May 15 auction. 
 
 Wynn’s adviser, private-wealth lawyer and Pillsbury partner Michael Kosnitzky, told Page Six, “To say that Mr. Wynn is upset is an extreme understatement. This was clearly an act of gross negligence on the part of Christie’s employees.” 
 
 Wynn is represented by litigators from his firm, while restorers and loss adjusters survey the damage. 
 
 Kosnitzky added, “We hope and anticipate that the painting can be properly restored. We also hope this matter can be amicably resolved with Christie’s. The other issue is the value they ascribe to the work — $70 million. We strongly disagree with it. Mr. Wynn contends it would have sold for over $100 million, and would have been the most significant work in the show. 
 
 “There may be a debate among art and insurance experts for some time, but Mr. Wynn’s new art dealership expects to be fully compensated for the cost and time to repair the painting, and the diminution in its value, following this flagrant act of gross negligence by Christie’s staff.” 
 
 Wynn stepped down from his casino empire in February in the wake of multiple allegations of sexual harassment spanning decades, but strongly denied any wrongdoing. The Picasso was one of three works going under the hammer to launch his new business Sierra Fine Art, LLC, through which the experienced collector intends to become the world’s most prominent art dealer to the wealthy, despite his eyesight problems. 
 
 Christie’s did not comment on how decorating equipment allegedly came into contact with valuable artwork, reiterating their statement that the Picasso was “accidentally damaged.” ||||| The painting, one of only five nudes ever auctioned, gave Sotheby’s its highest price yet but failed to set a new record for the artist 
 
 Nu couché (sur le côté gauche), a reclining nude by the modernist master Amadeo Modigliani, fetched $157.2m in New York on Monday night – the highest price in Sotheby’s history. But it failed to beat the $170m record set for the artist three years ago. 
 
 Sotheby’s auctioneer Helena Newman led a packed salesroom bidding that started at $125m but stalled at $139m, well short of the 2015 record of $170m (including fees) for another nude, Nu couché (Reclining Nude), at rival Christie’s. 
 
 The painting, one of the largest works Modigliani ever made and one of only five of his nudes ever to come up for auction, was hoped to be able to reassure the market that in an industry increasingly concerned with contemporary painters early 20th -entury masterpieces are again finding favor. 
 
 That was emphatically true for Modigliani, whose prices have for years lagged behind peers like Picasso and Monet. 
 
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 After a successful $833m sale of items from David Rockefeller’s estate last week, Nu couché was widely predicted to be a singular star of the New York spring auction season. 
 
 Painted in 1917, three years before Modigliani’s death at the age of 35, the picture caused a scandal when exhibited at Modigliani’s first and only solo show at Galerie Berthe Weill in Paris that year. 
 
 When a crowd formed outside the gallery to gawp at the works, the police demanded the immediate closure of the show. 
 
 The painting was reportedly consigned by the Irish horse breeder and trainer John Magnier, who’d picked up the work in 2003 at Christie’s for $26.9m. On that occasion it was placed at auction by the casino mogul Steve Wynn. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest A Sotheby’s preview of the sale on 4 May. Photograph: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 It was recently included in Tate Modern’s blockbuster exhibition of the artist’s work in London, which brought together 12 of his nudes, the largest number ever assembled in Britain. 
 
 Simon Shaw, Sotheby’s worldwide co-head of the impressionist and modern art department, said it “reimagines the nude for the modern era”. 
 
 Modigliani has proved a problematic artist for top collectors. Last summer, Italian police closed down a Modigliani exhibition in Genoa after it was claimed the majority of the show was comprised of fakes. 
 
 However, last nightSotheby’s confidently put the highest estimate ever placed on a work of art at auction. 
 
 It exceeded the $100m estimate Christie’s placed on last year’s Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi (which sold to a Saudi prince for $450m) and the $140m placed on Pablo Picasso’s Les femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’). 
 
 Magnier was not present at the sale. Though he has not confirmed that he owned the work, there have been strong hints. Magnier has a three-year old colt named Modigliani. Modigliani expert Kenneth Wayne told Artnet News the colt was so named for an association with “excellence and success”.
– Pricey mistake: A Picasso worth an estimated $70 million had to be yanked from an auction at Christie's this week because it sustained damage as workers were preparing it. It's not clear how bad the damage is to Le Marin, or The Sailor, or even how the damage occurred, but the auction house said in a statement that two outside conservators "have made recommendations for the successful restoration of the painting," reports ABC News. One weird twist: The painting belongs to former casino mogul Steve Wynn, who previously had bad luck with a different Picasso painting. Back in 2006, Wynn stuck his elbow through Picasso's Le Reve while showing it to friends in his Las Vegas office, reports Bloomberg, which adds that Wynn has a disease that messes up his peripheral vision. That restoration had a happy ending: The painting had been valued at $139 million prior to the damage, and Wynn eventually sold it for $155 million. This hasn't been a stellar year for Wynn: He stepped down as CEO of Wynn Resorts amid a slew of sexual harassment allegations.