Pablo Picasso 'The Women of Algiers' painting: World's most expensive paintings you can see in real life

A Picasso painting has fetched $US179.3 million ($A227.31 million), smashing the world record for most expensive art sold at auction.

The oil painting, The Women of Algiers (Version 0), sold after more than 11 minutes of furious bidding from telephone buyers at a packed auction room at Christie's in New York, fetching way over its pre-sale estimate of $US140 million.

But while many of the world's most expensive paintings are in the hands of collectors, there are plenty of hugely valuable paintings that are on to display to the public.

Click through the above gallery to see the world's most expensive paintings you can see up close and personal.

See also: The top 10 artworks you need to see in real life
See also: The truth about flash photography in galleries

The Telegraph, London with AFP