Picasso sets an auction record of $106.5 million

Nude, Green Leaves and Bust

A painting that Picasso  created in a single day in March 1932 became the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction last night. Christie’s employees took telephone bids during the eight-minute auction for “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust,” a 1932 Picasso. In an overflowing salesroom at Christie’s, six bidders vied for “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust,” which depicts the artist’s mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter, reclining naked. When the canvas last changed hands, in 1951, it sold for $19,800. But this time, “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” brought $106.5 million. (£70 million) For 8 minutes and 6 seconds, bidding rose steadily, with five people still competing at $80 million. Nicholas Hall, of Christie’s old master paintings department in New York, took the winning bid for an unidentified buyer. Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust spent decades hidden from public view It had belonged to the late Los Angeles collectors Frances and Sidney Brody since the 1950s.  Last exhibited back in 1961, Nude, Green Leaves and Bust expected to fetch anything up to $90m. Sidney and Frances were founding benefactors of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the UCLA Art Council, and she was also on the board of overseers for the Huntington Library in Santa Marino, California. Some proceeds from the sale will go to the library. Those who are interested in Picasso but have misplaced their spare $106m may be interested in Picasso inspired lots on www.UKauctioneers.com Source: Paul Fraser Collectibles