Picasso painting sells for a record $179 million

Pablo Picasso would be a happy man if he were alive today.

如果今天毕加索在世，他一定十分开心。

A painting by the iconic abstract artist sold for a record $179,365,000, included the auction house’s premium at an auction Monday in New York, a Christie’s spokesperson said. The identity of the buyer wasn’t immediately disclosed.

佳士得拍卖行本周一在纽约举行拍卖会，抽象派大师毕加索的一幅画作卖出创纪录的1.79365亿美元（约合11.1亿人民币）,含拍卖行溢价。买主身份目前并未公开。

Women of Algiers (Version O) was part of a sale at Christie’s auction house that also featured Alberto Giacometti’s life-size sculpture Pointing Man, which was poised to set a record as the most expensive sculpture sold at auction. They were among two dozen masterpieces from the 20th century Christie’s offered in a curated sale titled "Looking Forward to the Past".

《阿尔及尔的女人（O版本）》只是此次佳士得拍卖的一部分，同样拍卖的还有贾科梅蒂创作实人大小的雕塑《Pointing Man》，创造了最贵拍卖雕塑的纪录。佳士得这次拍卖的共有24件20世纪杰作，主题为“期待过去”。

The 1955 canvas, "Les femmes d’Alger (Version "O")," sets a new bar for the contemporary art market. Previously, the most expensive art work sold at auction was Francis Bacon’s "Three Studies of Lucian Freud," which went for $142 million in 2013.

这幅1955年的画作《阿尔及尔的女人（O版本）》为当代艺术市场创造了新纪录。此前，英国画家培根的《弗洛伊德三习作》于2013年创下1.42亿美元记录，成为全球最贵拍卖画作。

Christie’s, the auction house that handled the sale, had expected the Picasso to fetch $140 million.

负责此次拍卖的佳士得之前预测毕加索的这幅作品会卖到1.4亿美元。

The seller, who bought the painting privately for an undisclosed amount, remains anonymous. The painting was last sold at auction for $31.9 million in 1997.

此前未公开的这幅画作的拥有者目前依旧不为人知。这幅画最后一次出售是在1997年的拍卖会上，售价3190万美元。

Picasso’s most famous works are in high demand and few remain in private hands. In 2013, billionaire hedge fund manager Steven Cohen bought Picasso’s "Le Reve" from hotel magnate Steve Wynn for $155 million in a private sale.

毕加索的名画十分紧俏且很少为私人所有。2013年，对冲基金经理人亿万富翁史蒂芬·科汉在私人买卖中从酒店大亨史蒂夫·韦恩手中以1.55亿美元买下毕加索的《梦》。

"Les Femmes d’Alger," which translates to "The Women of Algiers," is considered a masterpiece of contemporary art. It features nude courtesans, a common theme for Picasso, and is painted in his signature cubist style.

"Les Femmes d’Alger"译为《阿尔及尔的女人》，是当代艺术中的一大杰作，画中是一位裸体妓女，毕加索作品大多以这一意象主题，体现了毕加索的立体派风格。

Picasso, who died in 1973, painted it as an homage to his friend and rival, Henri Matisse, the famous French impressionist.

毕加索1973年逝世，将此画送给自己的朋友兼对手亨利·马蒂斯以表敬意，亨利·马蒂斯是法国著名印象派画家。

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来源:BBC英语新闻爱语吧作者:刘佳