Sharjah24 – AFP: Pablo Picasso's "Woman Sitting Near a Window (Marie-Therese)" sold Thursday for $103.4 million at Christie's in New York, the auction house said.
The painting, completed in 1932, was sold after 19 minutes of bidding for $90 million, which rose to $103.4 million when fees and commissions were added, Christie's said.
Christie's had estimated the painting -- bought by an online bidder in California -- would sell for $55 million.
The sale confirms the vitality of the art market despite the Covid-19 pandemic -- but also the special status of Picasso, who was born in 1881 and died in 1973.
The painting, depicting Picasso's young mistress and muse, Marie-Therese Walter, was acquired only eight years ago at a London sale for 28.6 million pounds (about $44.8 million), less than half the price offered Thursday.
Five works by the Spanish painter have now crossed the symbolic threshold of $100 million.
Even before this sale, he was already alone at the top of this very exclusive club with four paintings, including "Women of Algiers", which holds the record for a Picasso, at $179.4 million in 2015.
This is the first time in two years that a work has broken the $100 million mark since an 1890 Claude Monet "Meules" painting reached $110.7 million at Sotheby's, also in New York.
The year 1932, when Picasso painted "Woman Sitting Near a Window", is often considered the most productive period of his career and many major exhibits of his works have been devoted to that single year.
Women painters also fared well at the Christie's auction Wednesday with several works sold setting artist records.
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