Piccasso painting fetches record amount

"Nu au Plateau de Sculpteur (Nude, Green Leaves and Bust)," was sold at Christie's on Tuesday evening. The painting is no bigger than 5 x 4 feet and it depicts Picasso's Mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter reclining and as a bust while Picasso's profile can be seen in the blue background.

Art has been fetching high prices on auctions recently and the painting broke the record set by in Giacometti sculpture back in February. "Walking Man I," was sold for $104.3 million at Sotheby's in London and there were more for sale on Tuesday night.

"Grande Tête Mince," was bought by a private dealer from New York for a price of $53.3 million which was way over the estimated $25 million to $35 million. "Le Chat," which is a sculpture of an elongated bronze cat, sold for $20.8 million while "La Main," fetched $25.8 million.

This is definitely not small change and, while not all of us can afford an original Picasso, South Africans are becoming more and more partial to buying art by South African artists.

If you do own an original piece of art it is important to have it valued so that you can have the right insurance for it. More often than not, South Africans are not actually aware how much their art works are worth resulting in them losing a lot of value if one of these paintings are damaged or stolen.

With winter starting to stick its bony fingers out and tightening its grip, perhaps it is time to check out your insurance policy and have your art pieces valued. It's especially important to check with your insurance company whether you are covered for weather-related claims, you wouldn't want to be left out in the cold if something goes wrong.