Picasso masterpiece become’s world’s most expensive painting

Picasso’s Women of Algiers has become the third of his artworks to break the $100m mark at auction, attracting a winning bid of $160m (£102.6m) at Christie’s in New York.

The painting became the world’s most expensive artwork after exceeding its pre-sale estimate of $140m.

The painting joins an illustrious rollcall of art to have broken the $100m barrier, including works by Edvard Munch, Francis Bacon and Alberto Giacometti.

I don’t really see an end to it US art expert on soaring prices

The same painting sold for $31.9m in 1997.

Picasso has two other artworks in the $100m club: Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust – which was bought at auction for $106.5m in 2010 – and Boy With a Pipe, which sold for $104.1 m six years earlier.

But art experts said the painting’s price was driven up by the investment value of expensive art. The world’s mega-rich have been favouring art as a way of holding their wealth without investing in financial markets or products.

Prices have also climbed in response to new collectors hunting down the world’s most desirable pieces of art.

Richard Feigen, a Manhattan art dealer, said: “I don’t really see an end to it, unless interest rates drop sharply, which I don’t see happening in the near future.”

At the same auction, another record was set for the most expensive sculpture as Alberto Giacometti’s life-size sculpture Pointing Man was sold for $141.3m (£90.6m) – although its buyer also chose to stay anonymous.

Picasso’s painting joins these artworks in the $100m club:

Three Studies of Lucian Freud, by Francis Bacon – $142m

The Scream, by Edvard Munch – $119.9m

Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust – $106.5m

Walking Man I, by Alberto Giacometti – $104.3m