A Picasso painting has smashed the record for the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.
The 1955 cubist oil Les femmes d'Alger (Version O) fetched $179.4m (£115m) at Christie's in New York.
It had been estimated to sell for about $140m (£90m).
But several bidders competing via telephone drove the winning bid to $160m (£103m) for a final price of $179,365,000 including Christie's commission of just over 12%.
Previously the most expensive work sold at auction was Francis Bacon's triptych Three Studies Of Lucian Freud, which sold for $142.4m (£91.5m) at Christie's in November 2013.
Experts say increasing art prices are driven by their investment value and by wealthy new and established collectors seeking out the very best works.
"I don't really see an end to it, unless interest rates drop sharply, which I don't see happening in the near future," Manhattan dealer Richard Feigen said.
The painting was once owned by American collectors Victor and Sally Ganz.
It was inspired by Picasso's fascination with the 19th century French artist EugeneDelacroix.
