In 3 days, Christie's sold more than $1 billion worth of art

Christie's auction house.
(Image credit: Jussi Pylkkanen/Getty Images)

Christie's set a major record on Wednesday, becoming the first auction house to sell more than $1 billion worth of art in one week.

On Monday, Christie's sold Picasso's "Les Femmes d'Alger, Version O" for $179 million, making it the most expensive painting to sell at auction. On Wednesday, 72 postwar and contemporary artworks sold for almost $660 million, with Mark Rothko's "No. 10" going for $82 million and Andy Warhol’s "Colored Mona Lisa" bringing in $56 million.

The auction house will continue to add to its $1 billion, as it has two sales scheduled for Thursday and one on Friday. The company's competitor Sotheby's is also having a lucrative week, raking in $380 million during a Tuesday evening sale and more than $90 million Wednesday.

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Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.