Picasso Painting Sells for $106 Million-Painted in One Day

One anonymous phone bidder’s passion for Picasso set them back a staggering $106 million, in about 9 minutes flat.  The auction took place at Christie’s in New York, and the Picasso piece was the sought-after oil painting, “Nu au Plateau de Sculpteur” (Nude Green Leaves and Bust).

This hefty sum ($106,482,500 to be precise), takes the new record for highest price paid for a piece of art.  The previous record was set back in February, at Sotheby’s in London, when Giacometti’s “Walking ManPicasso Nude Green Leaves and Bust Oil Painting I” went for an astounding $104.3 million.  Rumors are circulating that the very same reclusive billionaire art collector purchased both pieces. 

Expensive does not even begin to describe this hobby!  Hey, for the price of those two paintings, this art collector could have purchased a brand-spanking new fire red Ferrari F430 Spider, and likely gotten more enjoyment out of it.  They could have invested in a number of luxury and exotic cars for that sum, like a Lamborghini Gallardo, or Aston Martin Vantage…well, everyone has their passion I suppose.

The prestigious Picasso painting measures an unobtrusive 5 feet by 4 feet, depicting one of his many mistresses, Marie-Therese Walter in a reclined position and nude.  Picasso himself is said to be in the background.  The piece was painted in 1932, in just one day, and is considered to represent a turning point for the famed artist.

It is unknown if any other artist has brought in that much money on a piece that consumed only one day of their time.  I would consider that a good day’s work.  I am curious if the piece will now go back into hiding, or if the new owner (whoever it is) will be sharing it with others.  It really is a remarkable piece, and I feel it should be shared, yet for the price the new owner paid for it, they are free to do whatever they please with it.
 

For more on The Most Expensive Things, Billionaire Life and Luxury car rentals, follow links to our luxury blog.
 

 

Post by Imagine Lifestyles Luxury Rentals

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The Most Expensive Bugatti-$40 Million?

1936 Bugatti 57SC AtlanticIs it me, or do luxury cars and antique luxury cars keep getting more expensive?  Exotic and luxury cars represent a market that consistently surprises, like with the recent sale of a 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, for a staggering $30-$40 million. 

While the auction house and broker, Gooding & Company is mum on the matter, reports place the transaction for the antique Bugatti between $30-$40 million.   I am searching the Rolodex in my brain for a car that has sold for more.  If reports are accurate, this buries the previous record of the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa last year.

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Smart Struggles-The Luxury Cars of the Future?

All luxury car fans recognize the winged badge on the nose of any Aston Martin, but would you recognize it on the nose of say, a much more diminutive Aston?  Let’s revisit the Aston Martin Cygnet.

This is a teeny member of the luxury car family, measuring in at barely 10 feet from nose to tail.  Look at the photo to the right, now try to picture James Bond behind the wheel…amused yet?  I am!Aston Martin Cygnet

This is a unique 3-door hatchback, quite futuristic and ideal for city living.  Originally the Cygnet was billed as a sort of sidekick, or the equivalent of a tender to a luxury yacht.  It seems the concept has re-emerged to fit the role as a luxury smartcar, and the timing could not be better, and is in-tune with current global realities and the worldwide auto industry’s decidedly green future.

What is more exciting is that Aston Martin is not the only company betting there is a market for downsized luxury cars.  To compliment new emission regulations in Europe and North America geared toward improving fuel economy, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Cadillac and Audi have all chimed in with their own downsized but upscale additions to their luxury fleets.

Mercedes-Benz has enjoyed success with its Smart brand, and BMW has succeeded across the board, from its large SUVs to its Mini brand.  It certainly seems all brands are interested in placing their unique take on the luxury hybrid market via their own downsized models.  It will be a little interesting to see how large of an impact these auto bits will have!

For more on exotic automobiles, luxury hybrids, Aston Martin rentals and more, follow links.

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Most Expensive: A $2.3 Million Dollar Postage Stamp?

No, that was not a typo in the headline; there is actually a stamp worth an estimated $2.3 million dollars or more!  It is the Treskilling Yellow, printed in Sweden in 1855, and was interestingly enough the result of a printing error.

Indeed.  It seems the story goes that rather than printing the three-skilling stamp on green stock, it was printed on yellow/orange stock paper.  It wasn’t until 1970 that the authenticity of this imposter was questioned by the Swedish Postal Museum, who then found it to be genuine.   Only one known copy of the “Treskilling Yellow” postage stamp exists, making it the most expensive stamp in the world. 

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Smart Move: Wealthy Buyer Orders 10 Aston Martin One-77’s

Ahh…don’t we all wish we had the resources at our disposal to go shopping like the big dogs.  Well, one big dog in the Middle East just went on a very enviable shopping spree, ordering ten Aston Martin One-77’s.  You did read that correctly, we said ten Aston Martin One-77 models.  How James Bondish.

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Sign of the Times-Automakers Unable to Donate Luxury Cars to Charities

The economy has been in a delicate state for sometime now, as we all know.  Just another blunt sign of this economic distress is the East Side House Settlement’s annual auto auction and gala in New York.  This charity helps prepare disadvantaged kids for college, but was unable to obtain a donation from an automaker for this year’s gala.

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Top 5 Luxury Rental Cars From Imagine Lifestyles

Here at Imagine Lifestyles, we love to keep our fans and readers current on what is hot in the world Ferrari F430 Spider Rentalof luxury and luxury rentals.  Our hot exotic rental car fleet is constantly being updated, so when the need arises, we like to update you all with a list of the current top 5 luxury rental cars we have to offer. 

Right now, our hottest cars include:

1.      Ferrari F430 Spider
2.      Bentley GTC
3.      Lamborghini LP-640
4.      Aston Martin Vantage
5.      Ferrari California

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Big Shock: Reports Indicate Owning an Expensive Car Attracts Women

Women Are Attracted to Luxury Cars and SuccessOh yes people, recently the British Journal of Psychology actually wasted time and manpower to study what every living breathing male has always known:  that owning an exotic or luxury car makes men more attractive to women.  This is as shocking as being told the world is in fact round, Santa Claus does not exits, South Beach has the hottest eyecandy or any other universal truth.

In this shocking study (note sarcasm), both female and male models were placed in either a luxury “high status” car such as a Bentley Continental GT, or a “neutral status” car like a Ford Fiesta (everyone’s dream car).  The control of the experiment was that the same target male and female models were shown in both the luxury and regular cars.

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Top 5 U.S. Military Vehicles You Would Love to Own

Stealth Bomber In the area of amazing vehicles, the military has access to the best vehicle options.  Some of the military vehicles can actually make a Ferrari pale in comparison…which is relatively challenging, so we are going to tell you why.  Here is our top 5 list of US Military vehicles we wish we could own:

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Space Travel for the Masses? Meet Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic Commercial Space TravelThere was the invention of the wheel, which led to a multitude of transportation methods for the masses, then the Wright Brothers caught onto something.  Today, commercial airlines serve us in ways people in the past could not have dreamed of.  Enter Virgin Galactic, the company who aims to make space travel possible for everyone.

Seem outrageous?  So did commercial airlines to our predecessors, so why not commercial spacelines?  We live in a world of possibilities, and this could extend out of the world. 

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