By Katya Kazakina
(Bloomberg) — Pablo Picasso’s “Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘‘O’’)” sold for $179.4 million (R2.16bn) setting a record for any artwork sold at auction.
The price for the painting, sold Monday at Christie’s in New York, breaks the record held by Francis Bacon’s $142.4 million triptych since November 2013. The auction house had valued the Picasso at $140 million, the highest presale target of any work. The sale price includes commission.
Depicting a group of courtesans, the Picasso painting is based on Eugene Delacroix’s work of a similar title. Picasso explored the theme through a group of 15 paintings, designating the versions from A to O.
The auction house’s special evening sale of 20th century art called “Looking Forward to the Past” is continuing.
