Absolutely astonishing! In fact in pre-auction setting the bid was already at $100 million to the enthusiasm of Christie's. Eventually Nu Couche by Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Clemente Modigliani, was sold for a staggering $170.4 million and became the second highest painting ever sold at auction after the Piccaso - Le Femme d'Alger which fetched $179m earlier this year.
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani b.1884 – d.1920 was born in Livorno, Italy. The Italian painter and sculptor was made famous for his several nudes. His early childhood was marred by the ruin of his father's business but his mother encouraged his precocious flair for art as a child. whilst in Rome at the age of 17 years, the young Modigliani became influenced by the great french Impressionist movement. Thus the young Modigliani knew he must go to Paris, the center of the modern art world. Although, working mostly in France, his works were frowned upon during his life, his works of the human figure in painting and sculpture became very popular in the 1930's after his early death.
The painting Nu Couche, composed in 1917-18, was purchased at the Christie's auction by Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian who made a fortune in the stock market in the 1980's.
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https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/
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yours sincerely
Pieter Bergli
