Art and Culture
Modigliani painting fetches $157 million at auction
FILE: Photograph of Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920) (Photo by Epousesquecido (Museum Fine Art Artist Biography, Public Domain)
NEW YORK – A painting of a defiantly nude woman that was once censored as obscene in Paris has sold for more than $157 million at an auction in New York City.
The 1917 painting by Amedeo Modigliani (ah-meh-DEH’-oh Moh-dee-LYAH’-neeh) was the highlight of Sotheby’s Monday evening auction of impressionist and modern art.
Sotheby’s says the painting had the highest pre-auction estimate for an artwork at 0 million.
The Italian-born artist shocked Europe at the turn of the 19th century with his series of nudes reclining in every possible position, some displaying frontal nudity.
Monday’s auction also featured 11 Picasso works spanning seven decades, and paintings by Claude Monet, Joan Miro (mee-ROH’) and Edvard Munch.
