Picasso Sale Sets a New Record
May 5, 2010

“A painting that Picasso created in a single day in March 1932, “Nu au Plateau de Sculpteur (Nude, Green Leaves and Bust),” sold for $106.5 million, a world record auction price for a work of art, at Christie’s Tuesday night. The painting, more than 5 feet by 4 feet, shows Picasso’s mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter, both reclining and as a bust. Picasso’s profile can be discerned in the blue background.
The painting broke the record price for a work of art set in February when a Giacometti sculpture, “Walking Man I,” was sold for $104.3 million at Sotheby’s in London. Bidding for the Picasso lasted 8 minutes and 6 seconds; there were six bidders. Nicholas Hall, an expert at Christie’s, took the winning bid by telephone. He declined to say who he was bidding for.”
Read more about it: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/picasso-sold-at-auction-for-106-5-million-a-world-record/?src=mv