Frank Sinatra's famous lyrics, "Just say the words and we'll beat the birds down to Acapulco Bay," may have resonated well with the jet-setting icons of Hollywood's Golden Age.
As Acapulco became a cultural mecca for 1940s movie stars, cultural elements, notably artworks, were ferried home and hung in stars' living rooms. "Sandias y Naranja," an abstract painting by Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo, made the trip with Audrey Hepburn, where it became the centerpiece of her library.
That painting just sold in an auction at Sotheby's Latin America Modern Art sale for $2,292,500 (the asking price started at $1.2 million). Alongside Frida Kahlo's "Nina con Collar" and various pieces by Diego Rivera,"Sandias y Naranja" is a standout, thanks to its previous owner.
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Axel Stein, Sotheby's senior vice president and head of Latin American art, explained that Tamayo's style derived from both surrealism and an attraction to everyday life. He also highlighted the national symbolism of watermelon, as they're composed of the same colors as the Mexcian flag: red, white, and green.
The remarkably vibrant tones of the 1957 painting appear to have influenced the interior design of Hepburn's library in her villa in Tolochenaz, Switzerland, the place she called home.
Audrey Hepburn's library, where the painting hung.
"I just know that Hepburn was a very elegant woman, and this is a very elegant painting," said Stein. "Having had the choice of many paintings in the artist's studio, she chose this one, because maybe it was the one that most represented her."
