Picasso sells for a record £70m

A 1932 PABLO Picasso painting of his mistress has sold for £70 million, a world record price for any work of art at auction.

Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, which had a pre-sale estimate of between 46m and 60m, was sold at Christie's to an unidentified telephone bidder.

Conor Jordan, head of impressionist and modern art for Christie's New York, said the sale "showed the great confidence in the marketplace and the enthusiasm with which it welcomes top-quality works".

The striking portrait of Picasso's muse and mistress Marie-Therese Walter has been exhibited in the US only once, in 1961 in Los Angeles to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Picasso's birth. The painting, which measures more than 5ft by 4ft, shows a reclining nude figure with an image of Picasso in the background looking over her.

It had belonged to the family of the late California art patron Frances Lasker Brody, who bought it in the 1950s.

The previous record was 69m for Walking Man I, a sculpture by Alberto Giacometti sold at Sotheby's in London on 3 February.