Nude portrait from 1917 sells for £133million at auction

Nu Couche, which means Reclining Nude, was painted by Amedeo Modigliani almost 100 years ago and is regarded as his masterpiece. The painting, which sparked outrage at the time has just sold for a whopping £133million.
The painting, named Nu Couche which means Reclining Nude, threw artist Amedeo Modigliani into controversy when it was produced in 1917. His masterpiece was one of a series of nude paintings commissioned by Leopold Zboroswki, a Polish art dealer of the time.
The painting even sparked protests when it was first put out on display at the Galerie Berthe Weill in Paris. Outraged locals formed outside the gallery to demonstrate, with police ordering the exhibition be shut down, reports Mirror.
Modigliani died three years later, aged 35. The Italian is now regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century, with Nu Couche seen as his masterpiece. The painting formed a part of a private Swiss collection before going on auction at Christie's in New York last night. They had estimated it was worth around £65 million but it ended up going for a stunning £113 million. That makes it the second most expensive painting to sell publicly.

At the auction

Half a dozen collectors battled it out for the painting and it was eventually sold to Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian, who will be putting it in The Long Museum, in Shanghai. Jussi Pylkkanen, Christie's global president and chief auctioneer, had previously described the painting as one of the most important he'd ever dealt with.
He said: "There are a very small number of masterpieces that we dream of handling. This magnificent Modigliani has always been one of them.
"This powerful and noble female nude is a work of timeless beauty and one of the greatest works by the artist."
After the sale, he added: "In recent years we have created very meaningful relationships with collectors in China and we are delighted to confirm that the Long Museum has purchased our top lot of the evening, Modigliani's 'Nu Couche'.
"It is a superb and well-deserved recognition for the artist to have realized a price $100 million higher than any other work previously offered at auction."
The record price paid at auction for a painting was £118 million, which was paid earlier this year for Picasso's Les femmes d'Alger.