Arts lives forever and usually outlives its creator. The universe itself is an art form.
So is the case of iconic painter Pablo Picasso who, if he were alive, would have been ecstatic as his 1955 “Les femmes d’Alger (Version “O”) has been sold for a record $1.7 billions at an auction at Christie’s auction house on Monday, May 11, 2015 in New York.
Prior to this time, the most expensive art work to be sold at an auction for $142 million was Francis Bacon’s ‘Three Studies Of Lucian Freud’ in 2013.
Accoding to a Christie’s spokesperson, they had expected the painting to sell for about $140 million.
According to art buffs, this sale sets a new bar for the contemporary art market. The painting was last sold at auction in 1997 for $31.9 million. The seller who choose to remain anonymous is said to have bought the painting for an undisclosed sum.
in 2013, hotel magnate Steve Wynn sold Picasso’s “Le Rev” for $155 million in a private sale to billionaire Hedge Fund Manager, Steven Cohen. Picasso’s most famous work are in high demand though few remain in private hands.
The abstract painting “Les Femmes d’Alger” or “The Women of Algiers” is painted in Picasso’s signature cubist style and which features nude courtesans is considered a masterpiece of contemporary art. The painting was done as an homage to Picasso’s friend and rival, Henri Matisse, the famous French impressionist. Picasso died in 1973.
