An Amedeo Modigliani nude, Nu assis sur un divan (La Belle Romaine), circa 1917, sold for $68.9 million at Sotheby's Tuesday, Nov. 2. It set a record for the artist–and triggered something of an industry-wide sigh of relief. The Sotheby’s auction of Impressionist and Modern art is the first in a 10-day series of sales of nearly $1 billion worth of art.
As four bidders vied for the painting there was some evidence that–at least at the high-end of the market–there’s still heady demand for art despite the economy.
