At Christie's last night, a Picasso was sold by Jerome Fisher, a founder of the footwear company Nine West and (according to the NYT's Carol Vogel) "a victim of the Bernard L. Madoff swindle," for $14.6 million. The WSJ's Kelly Crow adds some further detail:
"Before the sale, the auction house had signed up outside investors to promise the seller of the Picasso a prearranged price for the painting. In exchange, the investors were promised a cut of any profits should the work sell to another bidder for an even greater price, an arrangement called a third-party guarantee. During the sale, the anonymous investors bid on the Picasso but were ultimately outbid."