A painting by Pablo Picasso has set a new record for the most expensive art work sold at auction, fetching $US106 million.
The Spanish artist's 1932 work Nude, Green Leaves and Bust was sold at Christie's auction house in New York.
It had belonged to the late Los Angeles collectors Frances and Sidney Brody since the 1950s.
The winning bid was made by an unnamed telephone bidder and breaks the record held by Giacometti's Walking Man I, which sold in February for $US104.3 million, the BBC reports.
Another work by Picasso, Garcon a la Pipe, had previously held the record when it sold for $US104.1 million in 2004.
Nude, Green Leaves and Bust had been expected to sell for between $US70 million and $US90 million.
The record-breaking sum, which includes Christie's commission, is being taken as a sign that the art market has recovered from the global financial crisis.
