Prized Picasso painting Les Femmes d’Alger set to sell for £100million at auction
A PICASSO masterpiece described as the artist’s most-important work still in private hands is set to fetch a world record £100million at auction.
Les Femmes d’Alger is a “majestic, vibrantly-hued painting” that was inspired by the 19th-century French master Eugene Delacroix, who in 1834 had painted The Women Of Algiers In Their Apartment.
It is expected to beat the record for a painting at auction – Francis Bacon’s Three Studies Of Lucian Freud, sold for £89.6million in 2013.
Christie’s deputy chairman Olivier Camu said: “One can argue that this is the single most important painting by Picasso to remain in private hands.
“Its sale will be a watershed moment in the market for 20th century art.”
The auction is at Christie’s in New York on May 11.