One of the most important collections of 20th century art to be offered at auction has been sold in New York for more than $200m.

The figure smashes previous records for a single collection.

The 16 Picasso's fetched $164m on their own

It belonged to Victor and Sally Ganz, who made their fortune from toys and costume jewellery. The sale, at Christie's, included 16 works of art by Picasso, which fetched $164m on their own. One of them -- a portrait of Picasso's mistress, Marie-Therese Walter -- entitled the Dream, sold for $44m. It was the second highest sum paid for a Picasso.

The collection, that also included works by the American masters, Jasper Johns and Frank Stella, was originally valued at $125m.

The children of Mr and Mrs Ganz decided to put the pictures up for sale after the parents died.
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