(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
How much would you pay for a Picasso?
An anonymous buyer in the United States has broken the world record for the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.
Santilla Chingaipe has the story.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
(Auctioneer:) "To the Femmes d'Alger, Version O, painted on the 14th of February, Valentine's Day 1955, wonderful painting. Away to open it, $100 million to open it..."
The vibrant, multicoloured painting from Pablo Picasso previously sold for about $32 million (US) in 1997.
The auction house Christie's says the painting is the final and most highly finished work from Picasso's 1954-55 Femmes d'Alger, or Women of Algiers, series.
In the series, he looked back to 19th century French master Eugene Delacroix for inspiration and, in the process, created a new style of painting.
Christie's says Les femmes d'Alger, Version O is the culmination of a herculean project Picasso started after artist Henri Matisse's death.
Fast-forward to 2015, and the bidding for the 1955 masterpiece started at more than three times the 1997 price -- at $100 million (US).
Christie's had estimated the painting would sell for about $140 million.
However, several deep pocketed bidders competing via telephone drove up the winning bid to more than $179 million, including commission for the auction house.
Auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen was buoyant.
"We always knew that it was going to break the world-record price, actually which was achieved here for a triptych by Bacon only last year at (US) $142 million. It comes as no surprise that this picture by the genius of 20th Century painting -- the Mozart, if you like, of 20th Century painting in my mind -- Picasso, should sell for $180 million. It's a wonderful, wonderful work."
Mr Pylkkanen says he believes it will be some time before another artwork beats the record set by the Picasso.
"It'll be fascinating to see for how long this Picasso will hold the world record for any work of art. It could be a decade. It could be longer than that. And so we really have witnessed a piece of not just art history, but cultural history."
Mr Pykannen says, although the buyer elected to remain anonymous, the active bidders came from 35 countries.
"Buyers are coming to Christie's from all over the globe. We saw a huge amount of competition against American bidding from European buyers and, also, some Asian buyers."
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