Pursuits
Modigliani’s Doomed Lover Portrait Boosts $237 Million Sale
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A Modigliani portrait of his lover may sell for as much as $35.5 million at an auction that will test demand for big-ticket Impressionist and modern artworks.
Christie’s International in London on Feb. 6 will auction the Italian artist’s 1919 portrait “Jeanne Hebuterne (au chapeau),” showing his common-law wife sitting on a wooden chair. The artist died, at the age of 35, on Jan. 24, 1920. A grief-stricken Hebuterne committed suicide the following day, killing their unborn child.