NEW YORK, NY (AP).- A 1932 Pablo Picasso
painting of his mistress has sold for $106.5 million, a world record
price for
any work of art at auction. “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust,” which had a
pre-sale
estimate of between $70 million and $90 million, was sold at Christie’s
auction
house on Tuesday evening, May 4th, to an unidentified telephone bidder.
There were nine minutes of bidding involving eight clients in the sale
room and
on the phone, Christie’s said. At $88 million, two bidders remained. The
final
bid was $95 million, but the buyer’s premium took the sale price to
$106.5
million.