Picasso To Be Most Expensive Painting?
A Picasso masterpiece painted in tribute to his late friend and rival Henri Matisse is expected to become the world’s most expensive painting sold at auction. “Les femmes d’Alger (version O),” which will go under the hammer in New York today, is acknowledged by experts to be one of the Spanish artists’ most impressive paintings still in a private collection. It is the last and most celebrated of 15 variations of “Les femmes d’Alger,” which Picasso began in 1954 following Matisse’s death, taking inspiration from Eugene Delacroix. Christie’s has given the work a pre-sale estimate of $140 million and it is tipped to smash the current record of $142 million paid for a Francis Bacon triptych at the auction house in 2013.
