Pablo Picasso's painting of his young mistress Marie-Therese Walter sold for $41.5 million at a New York City auction on Thursday night.

The piece, painted in 1932 and titled "Nature Morte aux Tulipes," was the most highly valued work of art at Thursday's auction at Sotheby's New York.

"Nature Morte aux Tulipes" is a wonderful example of Picasso's impressionist style work. The painting depicts his mistress Walter's head as a white sculpture on a pedestal next to a bouquet of tulips and a handful of fruit that could be considered sexually suggestive.

The piece most recently sold for $28.6 million in 2000, when it was auctioned at Christie's in New York.

Picasso's works are immensely popular among art collectors. Another one of his paintings, titled "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust," sold for a cool $106.5 million in 2010. That piece was sold at Christie's in New York as well.

But despite the big $41.5 million sale this week for 'Nature Morte aux Tulipes," the entire auction at Sotheby's performed below expectations. Officials estimated the auction would bring in $169 million at the very least, but sales totaled only $163 million.

New York art dealer Christoph van de Weghe told Bloomberg news that with the economy's current condition, art collectors are very sensitive to price.

"It's a smart market today," van de Weghe said. "If things are priced right, they sell. If they are priced even a tad higher, they don't."

Another New York dealer, David Nash, echoed that sentiment, adding that buyers are more cautionary than they were in better economic times.

"There isn't that exuberance," Nash said. "Collectors are more careful with their money."