May 5, 2010 2:08pm
By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A nude painting of Pablo Picasso’s mistress became the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction Tuesday night when an anonymous buyer bid a staggering $106.5 million at Christie’s.
The big-bucks battle to own “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” was fought out by eight art lovers, though six dropped out when the bids topped $88 million, the New York Post reported.
The remaining two — one bidding by phone and the other in person at the Rockefeller Center auction house — pushed the price to $95 million. With fees and commissions, the price tag was $106,482,500.
That bests the prior record, held by an Alberto Giacometti bronze bust sold for $104.3 million at Sotheby’s in London in February. (More …)
