Van Gogh painting fetches $66mn at New York auction

A Vincent Van Gogh painting fetched more than $66 million at a New York auction on Tuesday, the most paid for a work by the Dutch post-impressionist artist since 1998.

According to the Sotheby's auction firm, Van Gogh's "Les Alyscamps," which depicts a stand of autumnal trees, had been expected to go for around $40 million but ultimately an Asian collector paid $66.3 million after an intense bidding war between five potential buyers.

Also reaching the pricing stratosphere was a "Water Lilies" painting by French impressionist Claude Monet, which sold for $54 million, smashing Sotheby's valuation of between $30 million and $45 million.

The most ever paid for a Van Gogh was in 1990 when his "Portrait of Dr Gachet" sold for $82.5 million in New York. Adjusted to today's money, that's about $153 million.

Tuesday's sale of impressionist and contemporary works marks the start of auction season in the Big Apple.

Pablo Picasso's colorful "The Women of Algiers (Version 0)," depicting a scene from a harem, will be up for grabs when Christie's puts it on the auction block May 11.

The artwork has been valued at $140 million.

The world record for a painting sold at auction is $142.4 million for Francis Bacon's "Three Studies of Lucian Freud," which was snapped up in New York in 2013.

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