Picasso painting auctioned off for $139 million

New York: Pablo Picasso's 1932 painting "Woman with a Watch '' has been sold for $139.3 million (€129,9 million) at an auction by Sotheby's in New York, the second-highest price ever achieved for the painter's work.

An anonymous buyer outbid two others to secure the masterpiece on Wednesday

The painting depicts one of the Spanish artist's lovers and muses — French painter Marie-Therese Walter —  seated in a throne-like chair against a blue background.

Walter met Picasso in Paris in 1927 at the age of 17, when he was still married to Russian-Ukrainian ballet dancer Olga Khokhlova. Their passionate affair inspired Picasso to create numerous portraits of Walter.

The painting is a part of a special sale showcasing an estimated $400 million collection of artworks owned by art patron Emily Fisher Landau who died this year.

The most-expensive Picasso painting to sell at auction,  "Les femmes d'Alger" fetched $179.3 million, including a buyer’s premium, at Christie’s in 2015.

Picasso remains one of the most influential artists of the modern world.