April 3 (Bloomberg) -- The Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio has emerged as the buyer of a majestic, 10th-century sculpture of the Hindu god Shiva that brought $4.07 million at Sotheby's New York. The March 23 sale set an auction record for classical Indian art.

``I'm glad I was sitting down,'' Cleveland Museum Director Timothy Rub said about learning that the museum had won the bidding. ``We felt it was possible that the work would have gone for a much higher figure.''

A rare, four-headed granite statue dating to the Chola Period (860-1279), the Shiva is one of more than 200 artworks that the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, is selling at Sotheby's this spring to fund the acquisition of modern and contemporary art.

``I think Cleveland is a superb home,'' said Pratapaditya Pal, a leading Indian-art scholar and curator. ``He'll be very happy there amongst his peers and other masterpieces.''

The ornately carved, life-size statue sits on a pedestal of lotus leaves. A third eye on the statue's foreheads helped scholars identify the deity as Shiva.

The Cleveland Museum, founded in 1916, has a collection of more than 43,000 objects ranging from ancient Egyptian statuary to modern and contemporary works by artists such as Agnes Martin and Andy Warhol.

Asian Art Collection

The museum is strong in Asian and Indian art. Retired Director Sherman Lee, who ran the museum from 1958 to 1983, was an Asian-art scholar devoted to expanding that part of the collection.

``I certainly intend to make sure the field of Asian art is well supported in the future,'' Rub said.

The museum is currently undergoing an estimated $258 million renovation and expansion scheduled for completion in 2011. It received an average of 502,635 visitors each year over the past five years.

``It was worrying that the Shiva was leaving institutional care,'' said New York-based Indian art dealer Carlton Rochell. ``It's wonderful that in fact it will be ever more glorious within one of the best Asian art collection in the country. It's a very happy ending.''

(Lindsay Pollock writes on the art market for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Lindsay Pollock at lindsaypollock@yahoo.com.

Last Updated: April 3, 2007 16:59 EDT