Picasso-Monet-Matisse fetch top dollar at Rockefeller auction

Paintings by Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet and Henri Matisse hit record high prices during an auction of Peggy and David Rockefeller's collection at Christie's here in the US.

Pablo Picasso's work from 1905, "Fillette a la corbeille fleurie", was sold for $115 million, the highest price so far in the auction.

Painted circa 1914-1917, Monet's 160.3 x 180 cm "Nympheas en fleur" garnered $84.6 million, Efe news reported.

In addition, Matisse's 60.5 x 81.1 cm oil on canvas "Odalisque couchee aux magnolias", painted in Nice in 1923, was sold for $80.7 million.

The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller with more than 1,500 items of art, furniture, porcelain, lighting, and decor, included works by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Gauguin, Miro, Manet, Renoir and Hopper.

A work done in 1931 by Mexican artist Diego Rivera, "The Rivals" which depicts a traditional party in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, was also one the highlights of the event and could fetch $7 million.

The collection, valued at over $500 million, was put up for auction one year after the death of philanthropist David Rockefeller and the money raised will go to charitable causes chosen by his heirs.

--IANS

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