Modigliani's 'Reclining Nude' Sells For a jaw breaking $170 Million

  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. 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.
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."
"There is clearly good appetite among collectors for exceptional works of art offered with appropriate estimates," said Brook Hazelton, president of the Americas for Christie's. "This is a very broad and globally diverse market at the moment, with strong interest in paintings, sculpture and works on paper from the $10,000 level straight up to multimillion-dollar masterpieces at the top end."
Spirited bidding also is expected for two major works by Gauguin from his Tahiti period.