May 5, 2010
On Tuesday night, a painting dashed off by Picasso in just one day in 1964 became the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction as it rose to $106.5 million.
It took Christopher Burge, Christie’s premier auctioneer, eight long minutes to raise the picture, dubbed “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust,” above the hitherto unattainable $100 million barrier. Mr. Burge opened the bidding by calling out $58 million and raised the stakes by $1 million increments. From $77 million, four new bidders, sitting in the room or operating over the phone, jumped into the fray. From $86 million on, the contest was confined to two telephone bidders. They fought it out until Mr. Burge brought down his hammer on a $95 million bid made under the paddle number 1709, which, with the sale charge, raised the full price to $106.48 million, to be precise.
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