Chinese billionaire buys Modigliani painting 'Nu Couche' for world record US$170.4 million

A New York art auction sees historic multi-million dollar bids for Modigliani, Lichtenstein and Courbet paintings, smashing records for highest ever auction prices.

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Amedeo Modigliani’s 1917 "Nu Couche (Reclining Nude)" Photo: Christie's

Published: 12:45pm, 10 Nov 2015Updated: 2:13pm, 11 Nov 2015

Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian bought Amedeo Modigliani’s painting of a reclining nude woman for US$170.4 million, the second-highest price for an artwork at auction, in a volatile sale at Christie’s in New York.

It is not the first time he has broken records for bidding on works of art: in 2014 he paid a record price for a Tibetan tapestry.

READ MORE: Chinese tycoon Liu Yiqian breaks world auction record for HK$348.4m thangka

Liu Yiqian paid HK$348.4 million for the Thangka, an important imperial Tibetan embroidered silk. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Modigliani’s 1917 Nu Couche (Reclining Nude) anchored Christie’s special, mixed-category sale titled "The Artist’s Muse," which included 34 paintings and sculptures created from the 1860s through the 2000s.

The evening tallied US$491.4 million, setting five auction records for artists including Gustave Courbet and Roy Lichtenstein, whose painting of a nurse sold for US$95.4 million.

The Modigliani price was an auction record for the Italian artist.

"Prices have reached the Promised Land," billionaire collector Eli Broad said after the sale. "I can’t imagine it going much higher though. Can you?"

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