Have a Picasso if you have $179M to spare

Pablo Picasso’s “Women of Algiers" (Version O) set a world record for auctioned art work at Christie's, selling for US$179 million as one of two dozen masterpieces up for grabs Monday in New York.

Once owned by American collectors Victor and Sally Ganz, “Women of Algiers” showed Picasso’s enchantment with  19th-century French artist Eugene Delacroix.

The vibrant multi-hued painting is part of a 15-work series Picasso created in 1954-55 designated with the letters A through O. It has appeared in several major museum retrospectives of the artist.

Prior to the Picasso piece, the most expensive artwork sold at auction was “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” by Francis Bacon which fetched US$142.4 million in 2013.

The record-setting prices are driven by the  investment value of artworks and the new wealthy who give established collectors a run for their money during bidding. -end-

Image by national post