Can you afford these? Picasso painting throws light on luxury auctions
The bidding began at $100 million.
A poster of Pablo Picasso’s “Women of Algiers” painting hung in Christie auction house as their auctioneer fielded bids from across the crowded room for the cubist masterpiece.
Suddenly the price leapt to $110 million, then $120 million, soon it surpassed it’s $140 million estimate.
When the biding reached $145 million minutes later, the painting was already sitting pretty as the most expensive piece ever sold at auction.
But the biding did not end there. Reportedly the room grew quiet as the two remaining bidders duelled by telephone.
“At $160 million dollars ladies and gentlemen, fair warning,” the auctioneer said before one final pause. “It’s yours!”
While the purchaser of the Picasso’s masterpiece will remain anonymous, critics warn we will all pay the price for such extravagant, luxury private auctions.
With such exorbitant prices, the fear is that public museums won’t be able to keep up with soaring prices for priceless artworks.
Now this historical work of art, “Women of Algiers”, could disappear to a private mansion den, or even worse, which is often the case, a climate-controlled, tax-exempt airport warehouse until it has appreciated sufficiently in value.
Take a look in pictures at some of the other luxury items recently fetching millions of dollars at auction houses across the world. Could you afford them?
Auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen calls for final bids before dropping the gavel as he sells Pablo Picasso’s “Les femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’)” (Women of Algiers) at Christie’s Auction House in the Manhattan borough of New York May 11, 2015. The auction house had estimated the 1955 cubist oil “Les femmes d’Alger (Version “O”)” would sell for about $140 million, but several bidders competing via telephone drove the winning bid to $160 million, for a final price of $179,365,000 including Christie’s commission of just over 12 percent. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri.
A woman displays a 100.20-carat diamond ring at a pre-auction viewing at Sotheby’s in Los Angeles, California March 25, 2015. Sotheby’s says the ring is expected to sell for US $19-25 million. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson.
A employee holds a Belle Epoque diamond and emerald neckace during an auction preview at Christie’s in London March 29, 2012. The necklace is estimated to fetch between 1.3 million and 1.5 million US dollars at its auction in Geneva on May 14. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth.
A worker poses with the death mask of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, at Bonhams auction house in London May 17, 2013. The mask made shortly after Napoleon’s death on the island of St Helena on May 5, 1821, is estimated to sell for 40,000 – 60,000 GB pounds (U.S. $60,000 – 91,000) when auctioned on June 19. REUTERS/Paul Hackett.
Riva Lemanski, 6 poses on a giant two-storey rocking horse outside Christie’s auction house in London August 5, 2013. The Rocking Horse is expected to sell for £25,000-40,000 (US $38,000-61,000) when it is auctioned at the Christie’s Out of the Ordinary sale on September 5, 2013. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett.
An employee holds an Hermes diamond and Himalayan Nilo Crocodile Birkin handbag at Heritage Auctions offices in Beverly Hills, California September 22, 2014. The handbag has 242 diamonds with a total of 9.84 carats. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni.T
Mathias Rajani, Danish luxury product company Aesir’s chief commercial officer, holds a model of his company’s new mobile phone during a press presentation in Moscow September 5, 2011. It doesn’t do email, the internet, have a camera, games or GPS navigation, but a new mobile phone from Denmark is literally solid gold. Danish retailer Aesir said it hopes to sell its $57,400, limited-edition 18-carat gold phones to Moscow’s fashion-forward elite. To match Feature RUSSIA-LUXURY/PHONES-DENMARK Picture taken September 5, 2011. REUTERS/Sergei .
Mathias Rajani, Danish luxury product company Aesir’s chief commercial officer, holds a model of his company’s new mobile phone during a press presentation in Moscow September 5, 2011. It doesn’t do email, the internet, have a camera, games or GPS navigation, but a new mobile phone from Denmark is literally solid gold. Danish retailer Aesir said it hopes to sell its $57,400, limited-edition 18-carat gold phones to Moscow’s fashion-forward elite. To match Feature RUSSIA-LUXURY/PHONES-DENMARK Picture taken September 5, 2011. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin.