1.
SV INT People looking at exhibits at Christies.
0.03

2.
SV & CU "Le Garcon en Culottes" painting.
0.16

3.
SV People looking at paintings.
0.21

4.
SV Picasso's "Bust of a Woman" (3 shots)
0.38

5.
GV Auction room with lot 35, portrait by Picasso.
1.55


AUCTIONEER: "Lot thirty-five. Can we start at fifty? Fifty thousand we've been bid for it. For fifty thousand guineas. Fifty-five thousand. Sixty thousand. Seventy thousand. Eighty thousand. Ninety thousand. One hundred thousand guineas. One hundred and ten thousand, one hundred and thirty thousand, one hundred and forty thousand, one hundred and fifty thousand, one hundred and sixty thousand, one hundred and seventy thousand, one hundred and eighty thousand, one hundred and ninety thousand, two hundred thousand, Ten? Two hundred and ten thousand, two hundred and twenty thousand, two hundred thirty thousand, two hundred and fifty thousand. Two hundred and fifty thousand, two hundred and fifty thousand guineas. Two hundred and sixty thousand. Two hundred and seventy thousand. Any more? At two hundred and seventy thousand. Two hundred and seventy thousand guineas. Turner."



Art collectors from around the world arrived at London's Christies fine art auction rooms on Tuesday for a sale of impressionist and modern paintings. This one by Amedeo Modigliani, "Garcon en Culottes" fetched one hundred and eighty thousand pounds sterling.



This "Bust of a Woman" by Pablo Picasso fetched the same price. The total sales of the day totalled two million, four hundred thousand pounds. The star painting of the show was another Picasso work....a self-portrait. The bidder was a private French buyer. It's former owner was the late Fletcher Jones of Los Angeles, founder of the Computer Sciences Corporation.




Initials VS 21.40 VS 21.45


This film includes the bidding for the self-portrait. A transcript follows:-

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: A self-portrait by the late Pablo Picasso reached the highest bid of 283,500 pounds sterling after less than two minutes of bidding at Christie's auction rooms in London on Tuesday (2 December).

The painting was part of a collection being sold by executors of the late Fletcher Jones of Los Angeles, founder of the Computer Sciences Corporation, who died in an air crash three years ago.

The total sale of impressionist and modern paintings and sculpture realised 2,400 million pounds sterling (4,800 million US dollars).

Another work by Picasso, "Bust of a Woman" fetched the second highest price of 180,000 sterling (360,000 US dollars) as did "Garcon En Culottes" by Amedeo Modigliani.

The successful bidder for the self-portrait, which was painted in Paris in 1901, was a private French buyer. Last time the Picasso changed hands was in 1970 when, in the same saleroom, Mr. Fletcher bought it for 147,000 sterling (294 US dollars).