New Delhi: A painting named 'Woman sitting by a window (Marie-Therese)' by prominent artist Pablo Picasso was sold at a whopping price of $103.4 million at the British auction house Christie's in New York, as per an AFP report. 


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The British auction house stated the 1932 painting was sold for $90 million in 19 minutes of bidding, plus fees and commissions which took to amount up to $103.4 million.


Picasso, who was born in 1881, still reserves a high position in the art market and it appears as if the COVID-19 pandemic has not deterred buyers from making exorbitant art purchases.


Surprisingly, the 'Woman sitting by a window (Marie-Therese)' was valued at less than half its current price about 8 years ago when it was acquired at a London sale for $44.8 million.


Historically, Picasso's works have always been highly valued as before this painting, four of his works were valued at around $100 million.


However, in the past two years, it's the first time that an artwork crossed the $100 million mark. The previous artwork to do so was a copy of Claude Monet's "Meules" series which reached a bid price of $110.7 million at another New York art auction house - Sotheby's.


(With AFP inputs)