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Amedeo Modigliani’s $170.4 million ‘Nu couché’

November 17, 2023

9 Year Anniversary since Amedeo Modigliani’s ‘Nu couché’ achieved $170.4 million at Sotheby’s New York, becoming the second most expensive artwork in art auction history.

Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh and Jean-Michel Basquiat have each obtained, to date, only one auction result exceeding $100 million. Amedeo Modigliani has two paintings which are among the most expensive in art auction history.

The first Modigliani painting to smash the $100 million barrier was a reclining nude, Nu couché (pictured below left), which achieved $170.4 million on 9 November 2015 at Christie’s New York.

This became, at the time, the second most expensive artwork in art auction history. Today it is in fourth place behind Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, Andy Warhol’s Shot sage blue Marilyn (1964) and Pablo Picasso’s Les femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’).

Painted in 1917, three years before Modigliani’s death at the age of 35, Nu couché caused a scandal when it was exhibited at Modigliani’s first and only solo show at Galerie Berthe Weill in Paris that year. When a crowd formed outside the gallery to gawp at the works, the police demanded the immediate closure of the show.

The second, another reclining nude, Nu couché, sur le côté gauche, (pictured below right) sold for $157.1 million on 14 May 2018 at Sotheby’s New York setting the auction house’s record.  

It is the largest painting known by the artist and was announced by Sotheby’s as ‘one of Modigliani’s most iconic and spectacular works’.

Having previously sold for $26.8 million at a Christie’s sale in New York in 2003 to Irish horse breeder and trainer John Magnier, Nu couché, sur le côté gauche’s resale fifteen years later for $157.1 million added more than $130 million to its value.

Modigliani only painted 22 reclining nudes during his very brief career, only 5 of which have ever come up for auction.

Both reclining nudes are among the rarest and most sought-after Modigliani subjects, whose prices have increased exponentially since the start of the millennium.

The information provided here is not investment, tax or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation.

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