A 1955 Pablo Picasso oil painting has just set the world record as the most expensive artwork ever sold at an auction when it went for $179.4 million at Christie's New York on Monday.
Christie's had previously estimated the painting - "Les femmes d'Alger" or "Women of Algiers" (Version 'O') would sell for approximately $140 million. However, on Monday, several bidders who competed via telephone drove the winning bid to $160 million, and ultimately, to the final price of $179,365,000, which included the auction house's commission of just over 12 percent. The buyer's identity was not revealed.
The record of being the most expensive artwork sold at an auction was previously held by Francis Bacon's triptych "Three Studies of Lucian Freud," which went for $142.4 million at Christie's in November of 2013.
"It will be fascinating to see how long it holds," Christie's global president and auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen said of the record price, according to Reuters.
The record-setting Picasso painting was last auctioned in 1997 - wherein it sold for $31.9 million, or almost three times its pre-sale estimate. This time, bidding started at $100 million, with opulent bidders driving the price in $1 million increments.
When the bidding for the Picasso hit $151 million, Pylkkanen declared: "We're in new territory," according to The Telegraph. He later said that the sale was "one of the greatest nights in auction history."
