Modigliani nude sets European auction record, fetching $63.9 million

A striking Amedeo Modigliani nude portrait shattered European auction records, fetching $63.9 million at a London sale on Wednesday. The painting, "Nu assis au collier" (Seated Nude Wearing a Necklace), was a highlight of the first session of a major auction featuring a private art collection amassed by Joe Lewis, former owner of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. The initial session alone brought in an impressive $392.6 million.

The Modigliani sale marked the highest price ever achieved for the artist's work at auction in Europe. The collection, described as museum-worthy, includes 48 works by renowned artists such as Picasso, Magritte, and Klimt. Lewis, 89, who transferred his majority stake in the football club to a family trust in 2022, is estimated to be worth £5.8 billion.

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Mona Lisa wasn't alive when she became famous, but I am.

Gustav Klimt's society portrait "Bildnis Gertrud Loew" secured the second-highest price of the evening, selling for $47.9 million to an Asian private collector after a bidding war. Lucian Freud's "Sleeping by the Lion Carpet," a nude depiction of his model and muse Sue Tilley, sold for $38.8 million. Tilley, now 69, famously worked in an unemployment office when Freud, grandson of Sigmund Freud, discovered her.

Tilley reflected on the impact of being Freud's muse, telling The Wall Street Journal, "Mona Lisa wasn't alive when she became famous, but I am." She also told The Associated Press, "It did change my life. Who would have thought I'd be in Sotheby's?" The paintings of Tilley from the 1990s are now considered among modern art's most famous and valuable works. The auction continues with 23 more works on Thursday, including a Picasso valued at £12-18 million.

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It did change my life. Who would have thought I'd be in Sotheby's?