--- title: Modigliani Nude Sells for Record $170.4 Million at Auction description: It's the second highest price paid for a painting at auction canonical: https://time.com/4105908/modigliani-painting-auction/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-10T01:25:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:28:09.472Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Modigliani Nude Sells for $170.4 Million at Auction og:description: It's the second highest price paid for a painting at auction og:url: https://time.com/4105908/modigliani-painting-auction/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc44a8de42e307b53/69887045ab6d7710e26a70e5/modigliani.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Crowds sit in front of Amedeo Modigliani's "Nu couche" during the "Artist Muse: A Curated Evening Sale" November 9, 2015 at Christie's New York November 9, 2015. The painting sold for USD170,405,000. AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARYTIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Get og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Modigliani Nude Sells for $170.4 Million at Auction twitter:description: It's the second highest price paid for a painting at auction twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc44a8de42e307b53/69887045ab6d7710e26a70e5/modigliani.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Modigliani Nude Sells for Record $170.4 Million at Auction ## Video: High Art's High Price: Museums Can't Afford It [Watch (HLS stream): High Art's High Price: Museums Can't Afford It](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BR0tUoUi.m3u8) (2:31)  _Published 2013-11-15. The ultra-wealthy are snatching up prized works of art by 20th century masters. Many of these pieces, however, won't be seen again by the general public._ by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Nov 10, 2015 1:25 AM UTC  Crowds sit in front of Amedeo Modigliani's "Nu couche" during the "Artist Muse: A Curated Evening Sale" at Christie's in New York on Nov. 9, 2015. Crowds sit in front of Amedeo Modigliani's "Nu couche" during the "Artist Muse: A Curated Evening Sale" at Christie's in New York on Nov. 9, 2015.Timothy A. Clary—AFP/Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Nov 10, 2015 1:25 AM UTC A nude by Amedeo Modigliani sold for [$170.4 million](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/10/arts/with-170-4-million-sale-at-auction-modigliani-work-joins-rarefied-nine-figure-club.html?emc=edit%5Fna%5F20151109&nlid=55232055&ref=headline) at Christie’s on Monday, becoming the second most expensive painting ever sold at auction, according to the New York _Times._ The work, “Nu Couché,” becomes one of 10 artworks ever to surpass the $100 million figure, a list that includes three works by Pablo Picasso and three by Alberto Giacometti. The auction house need not have been concerned that the painting might be too sexual for some collectors, the New York _Times_ reports; it’s in good company with the all-time top-selling painting, Picasso’s “Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’),” which is equally revealing (if less realistic). \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/10/arts/with-170-4-million-sale-at-auction-modigliani-work-joins-rarefied-nine-figure-club.html?emc=edit%5Fna%5F20151109&nlid=55232055&ref=headline)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4105908/modigliani-painting-auction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4105908/modigliani-painting-auction/"},"headline":"Modigliani Nude Sells for Record $170.4 Million at Auction","datePublished":"2015-11-10T01:25:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:28:09.472Z","description":"It's the second highest price paid for a painting at auction","url":"https://time.com/4105908/modigliani-painting-auction/","keywords":["Art","Fine Art"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc44a8de42e307b53/69887045ab6d7710e26a70e5/modigliani.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc44a8de42e307b53/69887045ab6d7710e26a70e5/modigliani.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Crowds sit in front of Amedeo Modigliani's \"Nu couche\" during the \"Artist Muse: A Curated Evening Sale\" November 9, 2015 at Christie's New York November 9, 2015. The painting sold for USD170,405,000. AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARYTIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Get","caption":"Crowds sit in front of Amedeo Modigliani's \"Nu couche\" during the \"Artist Muse: A Curated Evening Sale\" November 9, 2015 at Christie's New York November 9, 2015. The painting sold for USD170,405,000. AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARYTIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty","creditText":"Timothy A. Clary—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/art/","name":"Art"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4105908/modigliani-painting-auction/","name":"Modigliani Nude Sells for Record $170.4 Million at Auction"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"High Art's High Price: Museums Can't Afford It","description":"The ultra-wealthy are snatching up prized works of art by 20th century masters. Many of these pieces, however, won't be seen again by the general public.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/BR0tUoUi/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-11-15T15:40:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BR0tUoUi.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4105908/modigliani-painting-auction/","duration":"PT2M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4105908/modigliani-painting-auction/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```