Georgina Adam puts the guarantee that Christie’s offered for the Brody collection at $150 million. But that number isn’t quite as aggressive as it seems. A full two-thirds of the guarantee is taken up by two works that the auction house found third party guarantors for:

The star lot, Picasso’s “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” (1932), is looking for $70m-$90m alone, and the buzz is that it could go even higher. This painting, along with Giacometti’s portrait bust of his brother Diego (est. $25m-$35m), carry third-party guarantees, meaning that Christie’s has outside investors underwriting the lots. Sotheby’s, however, has only one guaranteed lot in its May 5 evening sale, a Picasso portrait from 1965 (est $8m-$12m) that bears the “irrevocable bid” symbol.

The Art Market: High Hopes for Picasso (Financial Times)