Reversible Picasso nude sells for $67.5M

A Picasso work with a history fitting of the artist who created the piece was the highlight of a Sotheby’s art sale this week that brought in more than $300 million.

On Thursday, billionaire Bill Koch sold his 1901 Pablo Picasso portrait of a nude “Nightclub Singer” to Swiss dealer Doris Ammann for $67.5 million, theWall Street Journal reported. The price was $7.5 million above its estimated price and set a “new auction high,” for Picassos’ Blue Period, according to the publication.

The buyer also received a two-for-one deal with his purchase, as the New York Post explained.

Koch was hanging the painting in 2000 when he discovered a nude image of Picasso’s roommate Pere Mañach along a landscape on the back. The image was publicly revealed for the first time as part of the Sotheby’s auction.

The discovery helped increasethe value at auction, with Koch originally purchasing the painting for $3 million when he bought it in 1984.

Koch also reportedly made even more money at Thursday’ssale of Impressionist and modern art, which brought in a total of$306.7 million.His 1908 painting of Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies” went for $33.8 million, above its $30 million low estimate.