$140M: Picasso Painting Tipped For Record Sale
Picasso's "Les Femmes d'Alger" or "Women of Algiers" went on show in Hong Kong Wednesday ahead of an auction where it is tipped to set the world record price for a single painting.
The 1955 piece shows a woman in a harem and is the final work in a 15-painting series paying homage to 19th century artist Delacroix.
So far it is believe that this work can fetch for an estimated $140 million when it goes on sale at Christie's in New York in May. However, the auction house says the price could well go higher.
The current world record for any painting sold at auction is for Francis Bacon's "Three Studies of Lucian Freud", which sold for $142 million in 2013, also at Christie's in New York.
"It's one of the great Picassos, period, and it's one of the last great Picassos that has been in private hands," Derek Gillman, chairman of Christie's impressionist and modern art department, told AFP.
"In terms of Picasso's quality, it's at the absolutely top end. It's an extremely important piece," he said.
