A Chinese billionaire who used to drive taxis in his home country is the proud new owner of an Amedeo Modigliani painting, sold at auction at Christie's for $170.4 million.
The businessman, Liu Yiqian, is a celebrity rags-to-riches story in China. He was a dropout who made his fortune in the stock market and is now an avid art collector who owns two museums in Shanghai. He is also known for bringing Western works of art to China.
Reportedly, he is affectionately called a Chinese Hillbilly who does not have a clue about designer labels, so his wife does his clothes shopping for him yet buys his own groceries when she is busy.
The nude painting, appropriately named “Reclining Nude” or “Nu Couché" joins Yiqian's other pieces of rare art and objects in his collection. According to reports, he plans to put the Modigliani painting on display during one of his museums' fifth anniversary to give Chinese people the chance to view it without traveling outside their country.
Yiqian was one of seven bidders for the painting dated 1917-18. It is the second highest work of art ever sold at auction and the tenth ever to reach nine figures.
However, just like many artists during their own lifetime, Modigliani was a struggling painter and his paintings were often only sold for five francs.
The “Reclining Nude” is often considered by art experts as one of his greatest masterpieces that even Christie's says it exhibits "rarity, quality and beauty all represented in the same object.” However, during its first viewing at Modigliani's first and solo exhibit, it, along with other nudes, was considered too scandalous and the police shut down the show.
Today, Modigliani remains an elusive artist with his paintings now fetching larger sums that even he probably never dreamed of.
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