Modigliani nude painting fetches record $170.4 million

NEW YORK – A painting by Amedeo Modigliani fetched $170.4 million at an auction Monday, setting a world record for the artist and achieving the second highest price ever garnered for a work of art at auction.

“Reclining Nude” was sold at Christie’s in Manhattan after a protracted bidding battle to a buyer who wished to remain anonymous, according to the auction house.

Considered one of his best known works, the 1917-1918 painting nearly created a scandal when it was first exhibited in Paris. It depicts an unknown nude model reclining on a crimson couch and blue cushion.

The previous auction record for a Modigliani was $71 million.

Pablo Picasso’s painting “Women of Algiers (Version O)” set the record for the highest sum ever paid for an artwork at auction. It sold for $179.4 million at Christie’s in May.

A Roy Lichtenstein painting not seen on the market for 20 years also set a world record for the artist. “Nurse” sold for $95.3 million, almost doubling the previous auction record for the pop artist of $56 million.

Impressionist, modern and contemporary art by well-known artists “do not require a tremendous amount of aesthetic or intellectual risk on the part of the collector,” said Sarah Lichtman, assistant professor of design history at Parson School of Design. “They are beautiful paintings – some even exceptional as is the Modigliani – but they are tried and true.”

Christie’s expects to sell at least $1 billion of art over a series of evening, day and online sales this week.

Also on sale Monday night were two major works by Paul Gauguin from his Tahiti period.

“Therese,” a carved wooden figure of a Tahitian female, brought in a record $30.9 million, topping its presale high estimate of $25 million. The previous auction record for a sculpture by the artist was $11.2 million.

The other Gauguin, “Young Man with a Flower,” is a painting of a Tahitian youth wearing a white shirt, loose cravat and a white blossom tucked behind his ear. Christie’s said it fetched $13.6 million, just above its low pre-sale estimate of $12 million.