Picasso sets $179 million auction record in New York

 

A Picasso masterpiece and a Giacometti statue smashed world records Monday May 11,2015 for the most expensive art sold at auction, fetching more than $179 Million and $141 Million respectively in New York.

Pablo Picasso oil painting, "The Women of Algiers (Version 0)," sold for $179,365,000 after 11 and a half minutes of furious bidding from four to five prospective buyers at Christie`s, where two auction rooms were packed.

It was the highest price for any work of art sold at auction, Christie`s said, but fell short of the $300 million reportedly paid privately by Qatar for Paul Gauguin`s painting "When Will You Marry?" in February.

Just minutes later, the bronze statue by Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti "Man Pointing" broke the record for the most expensive sculpture sold at auction, fetching $141.285 million.

Note

The previous world record for an artwork sold at auction was $142.4 million, set for British painter Francis Bacon`s "Three Studies of Lucian Freud," which was sold by Christie`s in New York in 2013