Eleven Picasso paintings and other works that helped turn Las Vegas into an unlikely destination for art have been sold at an auction for more than $US100 million ($134 million).

The highest price fetched was for the 1938 painting Femme au Beret Rouge-Orange, of Pablo Picasso’s lover and muse Marie-Therese Walter, which sold for $US40.5 million ($54 million), some $US10 million ($13 million) over the high pre-sale estimate.

The Sotheby’s auction was held at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas on Saturday, where the works had been on display for years.

Five of the paintings had hung on the walls of the Bellagio’s fine dining restaurant, Picasso. The restaurant will continue to display 12 other Picasso works.