Picasso piece sells for record $106.5 million - CNN.com

Picasso piece sells for record $106.5 million

By the CNN Wire Staff

May 4, 2010 10:50 p.m. EDT

Experts had referred Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" as "lost" because it had never been published in color.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" sells for $106,482,500, the most ever paid for single work of art
• The 1932 painting shows Picasso's muse and mistress, Marie-Therese Walter.
• Previous record was $104 million for Alberto Giacometti's "L'Homme Qui Marche I, bronze"

RELATED TOPICS

• Pablo Picasso
• Christie's International plc
• Alberto Giacometti
• Auctions

New York (CNN) -- A Picasso painting fetched nearly $106.5 million at auction Tuesday, a record for any single work of art, Christie's New York said.

"Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" sold for $106,482,500 to an unidentified telephone bidder, the auction house said in a news release.

"Silence fell over the packed saleroom as Christopher Burge