Picasso Sells for $38.46 Million

LONDON —  A painting of two circus performers by Pablo Picasso sold for $38.46 million at auction today, becoming the most expensive 20th-Century work of art.

The buyer was not identified by Christie’s auction house, and the seller was an unidentified private owner. The 1905 painting from Picasso’s Rose Period, “Acrobat and Young Harlequin,” was sold in 3 1/2 minutes, with the bidding starting at 5 million pounds ($9.2 million).