Amedeo Modigliani - Reclining Nude With Blue Cushion 1917
Reclining Nude With Blue Cushion 1917
60x92cm oil/canvas
Sold for: USD 118.0 million
Auction house: Private sale via Yves Bouvier
Sale date: 2012
Seller: Steven A. Cohen
Buyer: Dmitry Rybolovlev
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The several dozen nudes Modigliani painted between 1916 and 1919 constitute many of his best-known works. This series of nudes was commissioned by Modigliani's dealer and friend Léopold Zborowski, who lent the artist use of his apartment, supplied models and painting materials, and paid him between fifteen and twenty francs each day for his work.
The paintings from this arrangement were thus different from his previous depictions of friends and lovers in that they were funded by Zborowski either for his own collection, as a favor to his friend, or with an eye to their "commercial potential", rather than originating from the artist's personal circle of acquaintances.
The Paris show of 1917 was Modigliani's only solo exhibition during his life, and is "notorious" in modern art history for its sensational public reception and the attendant issues of obscenity. The show was closed by police on its opening day, but continued thereafter, most likely after the removal of paintings from the gallery's streetfront window