Rybolovlev was a little less happy when he discovered the seller had parted with the work for less around $93m but that price still validates Christie’s $100m estimate:
Modigliani’s seller is the art historian Laura Mattioli Rossi, the daughter of acclaimed collector Gianni Mattioli, according to people familiar with the matter. At least 26 other works from the family’s collection are now displayed in the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice. Christie’s declined to comment on the identity of the seller.
It remains to be seen if this “Reclining Nude” can fetch more than $100 million, but the painting is certainly a sumptuous example of Modigliani’s signature style.
Christie’s Talks Up a Modigliani Nude (WSJ)