▲ Amedeo Modigliani, master of portraiture
A nude painting by Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920), a master of portraiture, has been sold at a European auction for $63.9 million, or approximately 98.5 billion won, AFP reported.
Global auction house Sotheby's announced on June 24 (local time) that "Nu assis au collier" (Seated Nude with Necklace) set a new record for the highest price ever paid for a Modigliani work at a European auction.
The piece was among the works put up for auction from the private collection of Joe Lewis (89), the former owner of the English Premier League (EPL) club Tottenham Hotspur.
His private collection includes 48 works by masters such as Pablo Picasso, René Magritte, and Gustav Klimt, in addition to Modigliani.
Among them, a portrait by Klimt was sold to an Asian collector for $47.9 million, or approximately 73.9 billion won, after a bidding war involving seven participants.
The auction is scheduled to take place over two days, ending on June 25, and recorded a total of $392.6 million, or approximately 600 billion won, in sales on the first day.
The previous record for the highest-selling private collection in Europe was set in 2009 by the collection of the late French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.
At that time, the Saint Laurent collection was sold at a Christie's auction for 373.9 million euros, or 655 billion won.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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