Picasso`s Women of Algiers has become the most expensive painting to sell at auction, going for $179.3m (£115m) at Christie`s in New York.
Eleven minutes of prolonged bidding from telephone buyers preceded the final sale - for much more than its pre-sale estimate of $140m.
The evening sale also featured Alberto Giacometti`s life-size sculpture Pointing Man, which set a record as the most expensive sculpture, at $141.3m.
The buyers, however, chose to remain anonymous.
The Picasso oil painting is a vibrant, cubist depiction of nude courtesans, and is part of a 15-work series the Spanish artist created in 1954-55 designated with the letters A to O.
The final price of $179,365,000 includes Christie`s commission of just over 12%.
The previous world record for a painting sold at auction was $142.4m, for British painter Francis Bacon`s Three Studies of Lucian Freud that sold at Christie`s in 2013.
Experts believe the investment value of art is behind the high prices.
"I don`t really see an end to it, unless interest rates drop sharply, which I don`t see happening in the near future," said Manhattan dealer Richard Feigen.
