Last night, Pablo Picasso's "The Women of Algiers (Version 'O')" sold at Christie's for $179.3 million, the highest price for any artwork sold at auction.
The seller had paid $31.9 million for the painting in a 1997 auction. From ARTnews:
Bidders fought for the work via telephone, with no competitors in the room. "Still many people in the game," Jussi Pylkkanen, the auctioneer, declared when bidding reached $140 million. The battle eventually narrowed to just Loic Gouzer and Brett Gorvy, each with a phone to his ear.
(ARTnews)
