CHRISTIE'S SELLS MODIGLIANI BUST FOR RECORD $52.8 MILLION

A SCULPTED STONE HEAD BY ARTIST AMEDEO MODIGLIANI SOLD AT CHRISTIE'S IN PARIS ON MONDAY FOR $52.8 MILLION, BREAKING THE RECORD FOR A WORK BY THE ITALIAN ARTIST, THE AUCTION HOUSE SAID IN A RECENT STATEMENT. IT WAS ALSO THE HIGHEST PRICED WORK SOLD AN AN AUCTION IN FRANCE, CHRISTIE'S SAID. AN ANONYMOUS BUYER BID FOR THE PIECE BY TELEPHONE. THE PIECE, SCULPTED BETWEEN 1910 AND 1912, DEPICTS AN ELONGATED HEAD WITH ALMOND-SHAPED EYES AND FLOWING HAIR, AND IT IS REMINISCENT OF THE ARTIST'S PAINTINGS. MODIGLIANI, WHO LIVED FROM 1884 TO 1920, ORIGINALLY FOCUSED ON SCULPTURE BUT SWITCHED TO PAINTING IN PART BECAUSE OF HEALTH PROBLEMS. THE ART WORK WAS PART OF A COLLECTION AMASSED BY GASTON LEVY, A FRENCH BUSINESSMAN WHO FOUNDED THE COUNTRY'S MONOPRIX SUPERMARKET CHAIN. LEVY DIED IN 1977. MODIGLIANI WAS ONE OF JUST THREE ARTISTS IN HIS GENERATION TO ACHIEVE DISTINCTION IN THREE DIFFERENT MEDIA: PAINTINGS, SCULPTURE AND DRAWING. THE OTHER TWO WERE PICASSO AND MATISSE. MODIGLIANI'S SCULPTURES ARE VERY RARE. AT PRESENT, THERE ARE ONLY 27 CONFIRMED MODIGLIANI SCULPTURES OF WHICH 17 ARE AT PRESTIGIOUS MUSEUMS.THE LEVY SCULPTURE HAS ENORMOUS PRESENCE. THE HEAD IS VERY VERTICAL BUT THE HAIR EXTENDS BACK IN A STRONGLY HORIZONTAL MANNER. DESPITE THE APPARENT FRONTALITY OF THE WORK, THE SCULPTURE IS CLEARLY MEANT TO BE SEEN ALL AROUND AND CANNOT BE FULLY APPRECIATED ANY OTHER WAY. ON ONE SIDE, IT LOOKS LIKE THE HAIR IS BLOWING IN THE WIND. WITH ITS SLENDER NECK, FINE FEATURES AND BULB OF HAIR IN BACK, THE SCULPTURE RECALLS THE FAMOUS BUST OF QUEEN NEFERTITI IN BERLIN'S EGYPTIAN MUSEUM. THE LEVY HEAD ALSO COMBINES THE RAW, SENSUAL POWER OF A MICHELANGELO STONE FIGURE WITH THE HAUNTING, TOTEMIC MYSTERY OF AN AFRICAN TRIBAL MASK, TWO OTHER SOURCES THAT INSPIRED MODIGLIANI IN HIS SCULPTURE.