World famous painter Pablo Picasso added another distinction on his already popular name as he set a world record for artwork auction, selling for $179.4 million. The painting “Women of Algiers (Version O)” were among dozens of masterpieces from the 20th century Christie’s offered in a curated sale titled “Looking Forward to the Past.”
According to the organizer of the auction, the buyers elected to remain anonymous as he paid a total of $179,365,000 for the Picasso masterpiece.
The vibrant, multi-hued painting from Pablo Picasso is considered as the most expensive art collection ever auction by Christie’s. Some experts noted that the prices were drivern by artworks’ investment value and by wealthy collectors seeking out the very best works.
The Picasso Painting “Women of Algiers” was once owned by the American collector Victor and Sally Ganz, it was inspired by Picasso’s fascination with the 19th century French artist Eugene Delacroix.
The famous 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 Spanish artist.
Aside from Picasso painting which was sold of $179.4 million eclipsing the previous record set by Francis Bacon’s “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” which sold for $142.4 million, the other item that sold as the most expensive sculpture at $141.3 million was a masterpiece of Alberto Giacometti.
According to Christie’s auction, overall, 34 of 35 lots sold at Monday’s auction for a total of $706 million.