This painting's the most expensive art sold ever, for a whopping $179 million
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The oil painting, "The
Applause erupted when the sale was finalized in an atmosphere of feverish excitement, accompanied by laughter and jokes, fetching way over its pre-sale estimate of $140 million.
The previous world record for a painting sold at auction was $142.4 million, set for British
The 1955 painting by
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"Those two works can set a world record," Loic Gouzer, senior vice president of Christie's, said ahead of Monday's auction.
"You don't have another chance to get them." Swiss sculptor Giacometti already holds
Christie's is offering a total of 35 lots spanning more than a century from 1902 to 2011, and expected to score in excess of $500 million at its swanky New York premises at Rockefeller Plaza.
Other highlights are Picasso's "Buste de femme" oil painting, valued at $55 million, a painting from Claude Monet's "The House of Parliament" series, valued at $35 to $45 million, and Mark Rothko's 1958 "No 36, Black Stripe," with an estimated value of $30-$50 million.
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Exponential growth in the art market, particularly for modern and contemporary works, is attributed to a growing number of private investors around the world and burgeoning interest in Asia and the Gulf.
The proceeds from public art auctions rose 26 percent from $12.05 billion in 2013 to $15.2 billion in 2014, and grew 422 percent between 2000 and 2014, according to
Artprice CEO
"This will be the sale of the century," said Ehrmann. "It's a tipping point in the history of art."
There are only six casts in the world of "Man Pointing," which shows a wiry, nearly six-foot (1.8-meter) man holding up one hand and pointing with the other.
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New York's spring auction season began last week at Van Gogh's "Les Alyscamps," which depicts a stand of autumnal trees, had been expected to go for around $40 million but was finally snapped up by an Asian
The sales continue on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Artprice says the art market offers yields of 10 to 15 percent per year for works valued at over $100,000.
But even if auction records are broken Monday, the Picasso and Giacometti are unlikely to eclipse the $300 million reportedly paid privately by Qatar for Paul Gauguin's 1892 painting "When Will You Marry?" in February.
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