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A vibrant, multi-hued painting from Pablo Picasso set a world record for artwork at auction, selling for $179.4 million on Monday, and a sculpture by Alberto Giacometti set a record for most expensive sculpture, at $141.3 million.

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Spanish painter Pablo Picasso is photographed in 1955, the year he completed his Women of Algiers series, in his villa, La Californie, in Cannes, France. George Stroud/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption George Stroud/Getty Images

Spanish painter Pablo Picasso is photographed in 1955, the year he completed his Women of Algiers series, in his villa, La Californie, in Cannes, France.

George Stroud/Getty Images

Picasso's Women of Algiers (Version O) and Giacometti's life-size Pointing Man were among dozens of masterpieces from the 20th century Christie's offered in a curated sale titled "Looking Forward to the Past."

Christie's global president, Jussi Pylkkanen, who was the auctioneer, said the two pieces are outstanding works of art.

"I've never worked with two such beautiful objects," he said.

The Picasso price, $179,365,000, and the Giacometti price, $141,285,000, included the auction house's premium. The buyers elected to remain anonymous.

Overall, 34 of 35 lots sold for an auction total of $706 million.

Experts say the high sale prices were driven by artworks' investment value and by wealthy collectors seeking out the very best works.

"I don't really see an end to it, unless interest rates drop sharply, which I don't see happening in the near future," dealer Richard Feigen said.

Impressionist and modern artworks continue to corner the market because "they are beautiful, accessible and a proven value," added Sarah Lichtman, a professor of design history and curatorial studies at The New School.

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"I think we will continue to see the financiers seeking these works out as they would a blue chip company that pays reliable dividends for years to come," she said.

Women of Algiers, once owned by American collectors Victor and Sally Ganz, was inspired by Picasso's fascination with 19th-century French artist Eugene Delacroix. It's part of a 15-work series Picasso created in 1954-55 designated with the letters A through O. It has appeared in several major museum retrospectives of the Spanish artist.

The most expensive artwork sold at auction had been Francis Bacon's Three Studies of Lucian Freud, which Christie's sold for $142.4 million in 2013.

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A guard stands beside Alberto Giacometti's life-size bronze sculpture Pointing Man after it sold for more than $141 million Monday, earning it the title of most expensive sculpture sold at auction — a title it took from another Giacometti sculpture sold for more than $100 million in 2010. Kathy Willens/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Kathy Willens/AP

A guard stands beside Alberto Giacometti's life-size bronze sculpture Pointing Man after it sold for more than $141 million Monday, earning it the title of most expensive sculpture sold at auction — a title it took from another Giacometti sculpture sold for more than $100 million in 2010.

Kathy Willens/AP

Pointing Man, depicting a skinny 5-foot-high bronze figure with extended arms, had been in the same private collection for 45 years. Giacometti made six casts of the work; four are in museums, and the others are in private hands and a foundation collection.

His Walking Man I had held the auction record for a sculpture: $104.3 million in 2010.

Other highlights at Christie's included Peter Doig's Swamped, a 1990 painting of a canoe in a moonlit lagoon, which sold for almost $26 million, a record for the British artist. Claude Monet's "The Houses of Parliament, At Sunset," a lush painting of rich blues and magenta created in 1900-01, sold for $40.5 million.

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Claude Monet's Le Parliament, soleil couchant was part of a series of at least 19 paintings Monet began during stays in London in 1899 and 1900, all from the same perspective, but in different weather and at different times of day. Tim Ireland/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Tim Ireland/AP

Claude Monet's Le Parliament, soleil couchant was part of a series of at least 19 paintings Monet began during stays in London in 1899 and 1900, all from the same perspective, but in different weather and at different times of day.

Tim Ireland/AP

Christie's also had a Mark Rothko for sale. No. 36 (Black Stripe), which had never appeared at auction, also sold for $40.5 million. The 1958 work was sold by German collector Frieder Burda, who exhibited it in his museum in Baden-Baden for several years.

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A visitor views at Christie's London showroom views No. 36 (Black Stripe), a 1958 painting by Mark Rothko. Dominic Lipinski/PA Photos/Landov hide caption

itoggle caption Dominic Lipinski/PA Photos/Landov

A visitor views at Christie's London showroom views No. 36 (Black Stripe), a 1958 painting by Mark Rothko.

Dominic Lipinski/PA Photos/Landov

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