New York autumn auction season opens with Modigliani record sale

Nov 3, 2010, 14:33 GMT

   New York - A canvas by Amedeo Modigliani fetched almost 69 million dollars at Sotheby's in New York Tuesday, a new record for the Italian painter, getting the autumn auction season off to a strong start.

   Auction house Sotheby's and rival Christie's predicted strong demand for their autumn auctions, as big spenders return to the art world after the world financial crisis.

   Modigliani's 1917 nude Nu assis sur un divan (La Belle Romaine), which had been estimated to go for 40 million dollars, fetched 16.8 million dollars at a previous sale in 1999, breaking the then-record for a Modigliani painting. In 2004, Jeanne Hebuterne (devant une porte) fetched 31.4 million dollars at Sotheby's.

   Henri Matisse's canvas Danseuse dans le fauteil, sol en damier was sold for 20.8 million dollars at Sotheby's and Le Bassin aux Nympheas, one of Claude Monet's water lily paintings, went for 24.7 million dollars. At a 1999 auction, it had fetched 9.9 million dollars.

   Another Modigliani, Jeanne Hebuterne (au chapeau), estimated at 9 to 12 million dollars, was auctioned for 19.1 million dollars.

   Fifteen of the 61 lots failed to find a buyer, among them works by Pablo Picasso and Matisse. The auction brought in 227.5 million dollars. dpa kcs im se