There are many ways and places to express art beyond the traditional gallery. You can find it everywhere, from the graffiti expressed in every corner of every town, to hotels and casinos and even technological sites such as online casinos, where apart from being able to find free spins, you can also find art exhibitions of a huge range of artists, such as Pablo Picasso, David Guidera, Stephan Weiss and famous Paris tower builder Gustav Eiffel.

There is often a strong link between casinos and art, as every hotel and resort on the famous Las Vegas Strip tries to out-do each other in terms of style and scale. The main reason for this is to attract new customers to their tables, but there is also an element of ostentatious flaunting of wealth and success. For proof, you need look no further than the recent sale of Picasso works by the Bellagio Hotel. These works were not sold because the casino was in any kind of financial trouble; it was simply shuffling its highly impressive pack as publicly as possible.

A $110million sale

On Saturday October 23rd, the Bellagio Hotel, owned by MGM Resorts, held a sale of no less than eleven masterpieces by Pablo Picasso, which set the art world alight. The paintings were from the hotel’s fine art collection, and they cover more than fifty years of the artist’s life. The collection was originally overseen by casino magnate Steve Wynn, who currently displays fine artworks throughout his own casino, including a stunning wooden chandelier by Gustav Eiffel, bronze sculptures by Steven Weiss and ceramics by Viola Frey.

The sale was held by Sotherby’s, who have a long history with Picasso works. It featured iconic paintings such as Woman in a Red-Orange Beret, a portrait of Picasso’s muse, and Marie-Thérèse Walter, which beat its estimate of $20-$30m by a full $10m, selling at $40.5m. Other high-priced sales included the huge 2-metre portrait Homme et Enfant, which made $24.4m, the still life Nature Morte au Panier de Fruits et aux Fleurs, which made $16.6m, and Nature Morte aux Fleurs et au Compotier, which made $8.3 million. In total, just eleven pieces from the collection, formerly housed in the hotel’s Picasso restaurant, were sold. The nine paintings and two ceramics raised almost $110 million. The hotel still retains twelve other Picassos, which remain on display.

Expanding the collection

The sale marks a shift in focus for the Bellagio Hotel, in tune with shifting attitudes across the art world. Rather than focussing on ‘big-ticket’ works from established masters, they are looking to move towards displaying a more diverse range of artists. The money raised from the auction will be used to acquire artworks by under-represented groups, such as female artists, artists from ethnic minorities and artists from emerging countries.

As with the Picassos, the main purpose of this collection will be to attract visitors, who will then stay at the hotel, dine in the restaurants and visit the gaming tables. Yet once again, there is a subtext to the move, this time flaunting the hotel’s ethics and diversity as much as their wealth. In the modern era, this is as important to many of their customers as wealth and success, and it marks a significant shift in thinking for the often traditional-minded casino industry. All eyes will now be on the Bellagio Hotel to see where they invest their newly released riches.