Pablo Picasso becomes most expansive artist in the world - Alina Reyzelman

Pablo Picasso becomes most expansive artist in the world

CNN reported that 1955 canvas, «Les femmes d’Alger (Version «O»),» by Pablo Picasso was sold for a record $179,365,000 at Christie’s auction in New York on May 11th. «Les Femmes d’Alger,» which translates to «The Women of Algiers,» is considered a masterpiece of contemporary art. It features nude courtesans, a common theme for Picasso, and is painted in his signature cubist style. Picasso painted it as an homage to his friend and rival, Henri Matisse.

Previously, the most expensive art work sold at auction was Francis Bacon’s «Three Studies of Lucian Freud,» which went for $142 million in 2013. According to CNN report  Picasso’s most famous works are in high demand and few remain in private hands. In 2013, billionaire hedge fund manager Steven Cohen bought Picasso’s «Le Reve» from hotel magnate Steve Wynn for $155 million in a private sale. The Picasso is the centrepiece of a blockbuster sale of contemporary art on Monday and Wednesday. All told, up to $2.5 billion worth of art is expected to be sold, according to Philip Hoffman, chief executive of the Fine Art Fund Group, a global art investment house.

Everybody is wondering, who bought the paining? And where is it going? The Telegraph newspaper suggests that the buyer of the paining is likely to remain anonymous, setting off another wave of speculation about the identity of the new owner and the destination for the piece. The current owner of Les femmes d’Alger (version O) is selling the work anonymously, 18 years after acquiring it at auction from the legendary collectors Victor and Sally Ganz. Although the piece has been in private hands, it has drawn admiring crowds at several exhibitions, most recently in the Picasso show at Tate Britain in 2012.

The Telegraph also says that: «The top end of the market has seen a heavy surge in Asian money, particular from China as the country’s new class of super-rich branch out their asset investments into lucrative art pieces. The New York art world was abuzz when a mystery Chinese-speaker in jeans and a hooded jacket won the bidding at Sotheby’s for Vincent van Gogh’s L’Allee des Alyscamps for $66 million».