Picasso painting sells for $179M

NEW YORK – A vibrant, multi-hued painting from Pablo Picasso set a world record for artwork at auction, selling for $179.4 million on Monday night, and a sculpture by Alberto Giacometti set a record for most expensive sculpture, at $141.3 million.

Picasso’s “Women of Algiers (Version O)” and Giacometti’s life-size “Pointing Man” were among dozens of masterpieces from the 20th century Christie’s offered in a curated sale.

The Picasso price, $179,365,000, and the Giacometti price, $141,285,000, included the auction house’s premium. The buyers elected to remain anonymous.

Experts say the high sale prices were driven by artworks’ investment value and by wealthy collectors seeking out the very best works.

“Women of Algiers,” once owned by American collectors Victor and Sally Ganz, was inspired by Picasso’s fascination with the 19th-century French artist Eugene Delacroix. It 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.

The most expensive artwork sold at auction had been Francis Bacon’s “Three Studies of Lucian Freud,” which Christie’s sold for $142.4 million in 2013.

Giacometti’s “Walking Man I” had held the auction record for a sculpture. It sold for $104.3 million in 2010.