Art experts have become the latest group to be offended by Fox News, after the US broadcaster covered up the depiction of women’s breasts and genitals in a report on the sale of a Pablo Picasso masterpiece.

The Women of Algiers (Version O) became the most expensive painting sold at auction on Monday when it went for $179 million (£114 million) at Christie’s in New York.

But in reporting on the setting of this new world record, someone in the Fox newsroom apparently decided that life painting was in fact offensive or sexual rather than simply artistic. Three sets of breasts were blurred out in the report, while other bits deemed too rude by Fox were covered by the strategically-placed Fox News strapline.

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Jerry Saltz, a senior critic at the New York magazine, wrote on Twitter that the decision to blur parts of the masterpiece betrayed the “sick minds” of those reporting. “How sexually sick are conservatives and Fox News?” he said.

The artist and author Gonzalo W Benard said it was “pathetic”, while art writer Aruna D’Souza said sarcastically: “Glad Fox News is protecting its audience from Picasso’s smutty mind.” Another Twitter user commented with the hashtag “#FreeTheNipple”.

The sale on Monday also featured Alberto Giacometti’s life-size sculpture Pointing Man, which sold for $141m, earning it the title of most expensive sculpture ever sold at auction.

Neither the buyers of the Picasso nor the Giacometti sculpture were revealed to the public – though one Fox presenter helpfully speculated that “they’re probably Chinese – that’s my bet”.

Shape Created with Sketch. Fox News 'finest moments' Show all 13 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Fox News 'finest moments' 1/13 Penis pictures are news Pulling photos straight from Twitter moments before going on-air was a nightmare waiting to happen for any network, as Fox-affiliated KDVR found in spectacular fashion when a penis was spliced into coverage of the Seattle helicopter crash Twitter 2/13 Homosexual impulses lead to serial killings A licensed psychotherapist booked to appear on Fox’s Justice With Judge Jeanie programme suggested Santa Barbara shooter Elliot Rodger could have been acting upon “homosexual impulses” when he targeted his victims 3/13 Single ladies rely on government like a husband Fox News host Jesse Watters coined the phrase ‘Beyonce Voters’, who ‘depend on government because they’re not depending on their husbands’. Watters was critical of this section of the electorate for ‘needing contraception, health care, and they love to talk about equal pay’ Getty Images 4/13 It’s OK to use racial slurs about China Fox News presenter Bob Beckel claimed “Chinamen” had been taught “how to do computers” by Americans in a rant about China’s “threat” to the national security of the US Fox/YouTube 5/13 Michelle Obama needs to drop a few pounds Fox’s psychiatry contributor, Dr Keith Ablow, claimed that Michelle Obama isn’t in a position to campaign for healthier eating because “she needs to drop a few” herself 6/13 Russell Brand is left-wing commie scum Fox presenter Greg Gutfeld called Brand “left-wing commie scum” after he condemned the news station for hiring a token black person to come on to lament the riots Getty 7/13 Women in the armed forces are ‘boobs on the ground’ Presenter Kimberly Guilfoyle asked if the UAE’s first female fighter pilot’s role during Isis air strikes could be considered “boobs on the ground” in Syria 8/13 Sexism awareness videos should themselves be treated with sexism Bob Beckel again. The Fox host addressed the viral video actress Shoshana B Roberts created highlighting catcalling in New York by saying: “She got 100 catcalls, let me add 101. Damn, baby, you’re a piece of woman” 9/13 Young women shouldn’t worry themselves with politics Fox’s Guilfoyle said young women shouldn’t be able to vote or sit on juries because they don’t have the same concerns as their elders. “I just think, excuse them so they can go back on Tinder and Match.com,” he said 10/13 Ignore CIA torture because ‘the US is awesome’ Fox’s “National Security Analyst” KT McFarland condemned the release of a damning report into the CIA's use of torture as a political manoeuvre designed to show Americans "how we’re not awesome" Fox News/YouTube 11/13 The Sydney terror siege justifies CIA use of torture Elizabeth Hasselbeck used the hostage situation in Sydney to defend the CIA after it was widely condemned for enhanced interrogation techniques revealed in the so-called 'torture report' 12/13 Videos should be edited to say what you want Fox apologised after editing a video of protesters to make it sound as if they were chanting "kill a cop" during a demonstration over a grand jury decision not to charge the police officer who put Eric Garner in an illegal chokehold YouTube 13/13 The AirAsia plane crashed because of the metric system Presenter Anna Kooiman linked the use of different measurement systems to the safety of flights abroad 1/13 Penis pictures are news Pulling photos straight from Twitter moments before going on-air was a nightmare waiting to happen for any network, as Fox-affiliated KDVR found in spectacular fashion when a penis was spliced into coverage of the Seattle helicopter crash Twitter 2/13 Homosexual impulses lead to serial killings A licensed psychotherapist booked to appear on Fox’s Justice With Judge Jeanie programme suggested Santa Barbara shooter Elliot Rodger could have been acting upon “homosexual impulses” when he targeted his victims 3/13 Single ladies rely on government like a husband Fox News host Jesse Watters coined the phrase ‘Beyonce Voters’, who ‘depend on government because they’re not depending on their husbands’. Watters was critical of this section of the electorate for ‘needing contraception, health care, and they love to talk about equal pay’ Getty Images 4/13 It’s OK to use racial slurs about China Fox News presenter Bob Beckel claimed “Chinamen” had been taught “how to do computers” by Americans in a rant about China’s “threat” to the national security of the US Fox/YouTube 5/13 Michelle Obama needs to drop a few pounds Fox’s psychiatry contributor, Dr Keith Ablow, claimed that Michelle Obama isn’t in a position to campaign for healthier eating because “she needs to drop a few” herself 6/13 Russell Brand is left-wing commie scum Fox presenter Greg Gutfeld called Brand “left-wing commie scum” after he condemned the news station for hiring a token black person to come on to lament the riots Getty 7/13 Women in the armed forces are ‘boobs on the ground’ Presenter Kimberly Guilfoyle asked if the UAE’s first female fighter pilot’s role during Isis air strikes could be considered “boobs on the ground” in Syria 8/13 Sexism awareness videos should themselves be treated with sexism Bob Beckel again. The Fox host addressed the viral video actress Shoshana B Roberts created highlighting catcalling in New York by saying: “She got 100 catcalls, let me add 101. Damn, baby, you’re a piece of woman” 9/13 Young women shouldn’t worry themselves with politics Fox’s Guilfoyle said young women shouldn’t be able to vote or sit on juries because they don’t have the same concerns as their elders. “I just think, excuse them so they can go back on Tinder and Match.com,” he said 10/13 Ignore CIA torture because ‘the US is awesome’ Fox’s “National Security Analyst” KT McFarland condemned the release of a damning report into the CIA's use of torture as a political manoeuvre designed to show Americans "how we’re not awesome" Fox News/YouTube 11/13 The Sydney terror siege justifies CIA use of torture Elizabeth Hasselbeck used the hostage situation in Sydney to defend the CIA after it was widely condemned for enhanced interrogation techniques revealed in the so-called 'torture report' 12/13 Videos should be edited to say what you want Fox apologised after editing a video of protesters to make it sound as if they were chanting "kill a cop" during a demonstration over a grand jury decision not to charge the police officer who put Eric Garner in an illegal chokehold YouTube 13/13 The AirAsia plane crashed because of the metric system Presenter Anna Kooiman linked the use of different measurement systems to the safety of flights abroad

The Associated Press said Women of Algiers, once owned by the American collectors Victor and Sally Ganz, was inspired by Picasso's fascination with the 19th-century French artist Eugene Delacroix.

It was part of a 15-work series Picasso created in 1954-55 designated with the letters A through O, and has appeared in several major museum retrospectives of the artist.

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