Degas, Picasso Sculptures Bring Record Prices in New York

A woman looks at Pablo Picasso's "Tete de femme" during Christie's 20th and 21st Century Art press preview in New York on April 29, 2022 Angela Weiss AFP/File
A woman looks at Pablo Picasso's "Tete de femme" during Christie's 20th and 21st Century Art press preview in New York on April 29, 2022 Angela Weiss AFP/File
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Degas, Picasso Sculptures Bring Record Prices in New York

A woman looks at Pablo Picasso's "Tete de femme" during Christie's 20th and 21st Century Art press preview in New York on April 29, 2022 Angela Weiss AFP/File
A woman looks at Pablo Picasso's "Tete de femme" during Christie's 20th and 21st Century Art press preview in New York on April 29, 2022 Angela Weiss AFP/File

A sculpture by Edgar Degas sold Thursday for $41.6 million at Christie's in New York, the highest price paid at auction for a work by the French artist, while a bronze by Pablo Picasso also broke a record.

The Degas sculpture -- "Petite danseuse de quatorze ans" -- is a delicate bronze with a brown patina depicting a young ballerina in a muslin skirt with a ribbon in her hair, AFP said.

It is not the original -- which is on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington -- but a cast made by Adrien-Aurelien Hebrard 10 years after the 1917 death of the impressionist.

That did not stop it from setting a new record for Degas, easily topping the previous high of 22.2 million euros set by another version of the same work in 2015.

The sculpture that sold on Thursday was one of 12 pieces from the collection of Anne Bass, an American businesswoman who died in 2020.

She was the patron of several major American museums and the New York ballet, and was the wife of billionaire oil heir Sid Bass.

Among her collection were two paintings by American expressionist Marc Rothko, of which "Untitled (Shades of red)" sold for $66.8 million, and three works by Claude Monet.

His "Parlement, soleil couchant," a dark but luminous oil on canvas, sold for $75.96 million.

Christie's also announced that Picasso's "Tete de femme (Fernande)" became the artist's most expensive bronze ever sold at auction, at $48.48 million.

The Spaniard held the record for the most expensive work of 20th Century artwork ever sold at auction until Monday night, when an iconic portrait of Marilyn Monroe by American pop artist Andy Warhol brought in $195 million.

Picasso's "Les Femmes d'Alger (Version '0')" had previously set the record at $179.4 million in 2015.



Woman's House in California Was Burglarized so Many Times that Even Bears Went in

This undated image provided by the Lake Superior Zoo, shows Tundra, an Alaskan brown bear, before undergoing a procedure for a new canine tooth, Monday June 23, 2025, at the zoo in Duluth, Minn.  (Lake Superior Zoo via AP)
This undated image provided by the Lake Superior Zoo, shows Tundra, an Alaskan brown bear, before undergoing a procedure for a new canine tooth, Monday June 23, 2025, at the zoo in Duluth, Minn. (Lake Superior Zoo via AP)
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Woman's House in California Was Burglarized so Many Times that Even Bears Went in

This undated image provided by the Lake Superior Zoo, shows Tundra, an Alaskan brown bear, before undergoing a procedure for a new canine tooth, Monday June 23, 2025, at the zoo in Duluth, Minn.  (Lake Superior Zoo via AP)
This undated image provided by the Lake Superior Zoo, shows Tundra, an Alaskan brown bear, before undergoing a procedure for a new canine tooth, Monday June 23, 2025, at the zoo in Duluth, Minn. (Lake Superior Zoo via AP)

Prosecutors say a woman's home in a remote area of northern California was so badly damaged by a series of burglaries that bears were able to get inside, causing additional destruction that compounded her financial losses.

The Butte County District Attorney's Office said it filed burglary charges over the past week against 11 people for the break-ins at the home of a 64-year-old woman outside Magalia.

The homeowner first reported a burglary in April 2024, authorities said. That was followed by a series of additional intrusions that drove her from her home. With the house being empty, bears went inside, The Associated Press reported.

Along with the 11 suspects, Butte County prosecutors said, another five suspects have been tentatively identified and charges against them are pending.

Five of the 11 were still in the county jail as of early Saturday, all facing a burglary charge. Others have posted bail or were released on their own recognizance, according to the district attorney's statement. Ten are residents of Magalia, while the other is from nearby Paradise.

Magalia is about 92 miles (148 kilometers) north of Sacramento in a region of vast national forests. The woman's home is in the Lovelock area, just north of Magalia.