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Picasso work sets world art-auction record

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-05-05 08:57

Picasso work sets world art-auction record

Pablo Picasso's 1932 painting "Nu au Plateau de Sculpteur (Nude, Green Leaves and Bust)" is seen in this handout image released to Reuters on May 4, 2010.[Agencies]

NEW YORK - Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" soared to more than $106 million at Christie's on Tuesday, setting a record for a work of art sold at auction.

Pablo Picasso's 1932 'Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust' is seen at Christie's auction house in New York April 16, 2010. [Agencies]

The vibrant large-scale depiction of Picasso's mistress and frequent subject, Marie-Therese Walter, was the highlight of a world-class collection assembled by the late Los Angeles art patrons Frances and Sidney Brody.

It had been estimated to sell for more than $80 million, but many art experts predicted in recent weeks it would ride growing confidence in a recovering art market and break the previous record of $104.3 million set in February by Giacometti's "Walking Man I" at Sotheby's in London.

More than half a dozen people bid on the 1932 canvas, which the Brodys acquired in the 1950s from Picasso's dealers, with the winning bid taken by a Christie's executive via telephone. The final price of $106,482,500 included the auction's house's commission.