Modigliani: Is It Worth $150 Million?
A rare painting of a reclining nude by Amedeo Modigliani—which until the first week of April was hanging on the walls of Tate Modern in London—is set to headline Sotheby’s 14 May evening sale of Impressionist and Modern art in New York. Backed by a third-party irrevocable bid, the work is expected to bring more than $150m. Although Sotheby’s declined to comment on the identity of the seller or the third-party backer, the painting has been identified by Bloomberg as owned by the Irish horse-breeding billionaire John Magnier, who reportedly acquired it for $26.9m in 2003 when it was put up for sale by the casino mogul Steve Wynn.
