Amedeo Modigliani, Nu Assis Sur un Divan (La Belle Romaine), 1917 (est. $40 million, realized $68.9 million), via Sothebys.com

The fall auction season in New York kicked off on Tuesday evening with Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern sale. The 61-lot auction carried a presale estimate of $195-266 million and realized $227,561,000. Just four lots accounted for more than half of the evening’s earnings, while 15 lots were bought in. Amedeo Modigliani‘s Nu Assis Sur un Divan (La Belle Romaine) was the top lot, bringing in a staggering $68.9 million and setting the record for a work by the artist at auction.

Aristide Maillol, Torse de L’Action Enchainée, 1861-1944, at auction (est. $500-$700 thousand, realized 2.9 million), via Art Observed

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Oskar Kokoschka, “Rudolf Blümner” (1910), part of a new show of the artist’s works at Neue Galerie New York.

Neue Galerie New York is currently showing six oil paintings and 40 drawings by the late Oskar Kokoschka.  All works are drawn from the museum’s holdings, and will be on display through October 5.  “Focus” runs concurrently with the Neue Galerie’s “Selections from the Permanent Collection,” which shows works that comment on the political and social changes in post-WWI Germany.

Related links:
Neue Galerie New York
Oskar Kokoschka – Modernity Met With Hope and Despair at the Neue Galerie [New York Times]
Viennese Culture on the Skids [New York Observer]

Oskar Kokoschka, “Martha Hirsch (Dreaming Woman” (1909), at Neue Galerie.

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