Chinese collector splurges big on a Modigliani nude painting
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E-mail chinadaily.com.cn, November 10, 2015
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| Christie's auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen auctions Amedeo Modigliani's Reclining Nude during a curated auction at Christie's entitled "The Artist's Muse" in New York November 9, 2015. [Photo/Agencies] |
![Christie's auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen auctions Amedeo Modigliani's Reclining Nude during a curated auction at Christie's entitled 'The Artist's Muse' in New York November 9, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20151110/b8aeed99045617abf1b93c.jpg "Christie's auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen auctions Amedeo Modigliani's Reclining Nude during a curated auction at Christie's entitled 'The Artist's Muse' in New York November 9, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]")
Chinese collector Liu Yiqian spent 1.084 billion yuan (US$170.4 million) on a Modigliani nude painting at Christie's in New York on Monday, a new record for a Modigliani piece, according to Artron.net.
It is also the second-highest price ever for a work of art at auction, second only to Pablo Picasso's Women of Algiers, which sold for US$179 million at Christie's in May.
The piece, Reclining Nude, was created by Italian modernist painter Amedeo Modigliani during 1917-18. The artist is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by elongation of faces and figures.
Liu Yiqian, the man who founded the Long Museum in Shanghai with his wife, always makes a stir with his buying. He bought an imperial embroidered silk Thangka for about US$45 million and a Doucai Chenghua "chicken cup" for US$36 million last year.
Some half-dozen bidders competed for the canvas, which had remained in the same private collection for some 60 years and was offered as the highlight of a specially curated "Artist's Muse" sale, comprising 34 works in total.
In a packed salesroom marked by deliberate but determined competition, bidding started at US$75 million - already more than Modigliani's auction record of US$70.7 million - and ticked upwards in US$5 million increments before a telephone bidder prevailed at US$152 million.
The final price was US$170,405,000 including Christie's' commission of just over 12 percent. The auction house had estimated the canvas would fetch more than US$100 million.
While nearly 30 percent of the "Artist's Muse" offerings went unsold - Lucian Freud's Naked Portrait on a Red Sofa was estimated at as much as US$30 million but failed to sell - the auction took in US$494.4 million in total. That was right in the middle of the pre-sale estimate of US$442 million to US$540 million.
A new record was set for an auction sale of work by Roy Lichtenstein, the pop artist best known for his vibrant, cartoon-style works. His 1964 painting Nurse fetched US$95.4 million, within the US$80 million to US$100 million estimate.
Another artist record was broken when Thérèse, a Gauguin sculpture, sold for just under US$31 million, beating the US$25 million estimate.
Christie's autumn auctions continue on Tuesday featuring works from the red-hot post-war and contemporary art category.
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