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

John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for A Day in the Life go under the hammer

A track that marked a turning point for the Beatles goes up for sale in New York John Lennon's autograph lyrics for A Day In The Life will be offered in a New York auction to be held by Sotheby's on 18 June 2010. The revolutionary song is often noted as the turning point that marked the Beatles transformation from pop icons to artists. The final track of the Beatles legendary 1967 album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the song spent 27 weeks at the top of the UK's charts and 15 weeks at number one on the American Billboard 200. The New York Times described the song as, "One of the most important Lennon-McCartney compositions, and… a historic Pop event." The lyrics, written on a double-sided sheet of paper in Lennon's hand are complete with cross-outs, corrections and re-workings and give a rare insight in the world famous Lennon-McCartney song-writing dynamic that any Beatles fan would treasure. Lennon notes where Paul McCartney would insert his more lively, upbeat verses. The lyrics shift from the darkly morbid - "he blew his mind out in a car," which referencing the accidental death of Tara Browne, the son of a Lord and a Guinness heiress to the trivial; '4,000 holes in Blackburn Lancashire,'' which was inspired by a bizarre road traffic scheme in North West England. A Day In The Life sparked instant controversy upon its release. It was banned by the BBC because of the line 'I'd love to turn you on' which supposedly encouraged drug use, making it the first song to be censored by a nationalradio network in the UK. The song was also omitted from the album when it was released in several Asiancountries. But its place in musical history is now assured.

John Lennon died in1980

Topping Q Magazine's list of the 50 Greatest British Songs of All Time, A Day In The Life also ranked at number 26 in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The lyrics will go under the hammer with a guide price of $500,000-700,000 at Sotheby's New York on June 18 - the anniversary of its 1967 release. The lyrics, signed by Lennon, belonged to the Beatles' long-time roadie the late Mal Evans. Source: Paul Fraser Collectibles For UK auctions go to www.ukauctioneers.com