Art market history was made at Christie's yesterday evening when the Brody Picasso, Nude Green Leaves, and Bust sold for $106,482,500 (₤70,278,450 €81,991,525) to an unidentified telephone bidder.
The sale set a new World Record for any work of art sold at auction.
 Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, sold for $106.5m |
Silence fell over the packed saleroom as Christopher Burge conducted nine minutes of bidding that involved eight clients.
Christie's lead auctioneer took bids from a client in the saleroom as well as those on the phone before the competition settled down to two bidders at the $88m mark and a one-on-one battle ensued.
The final bid was hammered down at 7.32pm at $95m. Buyer's premium takes the price of the painting to a record breaking $106.5 million.
Nude, Green Leaves and Bust is the star lot of the Collection of Mrs. Sidney Brody, a stellar assemblage of Modern Art purchased primarily in the 1940's and 50's and kept in the family home since.
 New at #2: Alberto Giacometti's L'homme qui marche I, bronze, 1960 |
Known among experts as the "lost" 1932 masterpiece because it had never before been published in colour, Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust is a sensuous depiction of Picasso's muse and mistress Marie-Therese Walter.
In previous years, Christie's has successfully sold six paintings from Picasso's celebrated 1932 series. As befitting its importance within the canon of Picasso's work, the $70-90 million pre-sale estimate was the highest placed yet on an artwork offered at Christie's New York.
The previous highest price for a work at auction was $104,327,006 paid for L'homme qui marche I, bronze, 1960, by Alberto Giacometti on February 3, 2010.
The previous highest price for a work of art by Pablo Picasso was $104,168,000 paid for Garçon à la pipe, 1905 on 5 May 2004. (Here is our previous run-down of the five most valuable artworks ever auctioned.)
And if you missed the Christie's sale, a signed sketch by Pablo Picasso's muse Francoise Gilot is also available on the collectors' market, at an ideal price for entry-level investors.
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