A Paul Gauguin painting has reportedly become the most expensive work of art ever sold, selling for $300 million.
A painting of two Tahitian women by French artist Paul Gauguin is reported to have been sold for $300 million, making it the most expensive work of art ever sold. The oil painting, entitled Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?), was painting in 1892. Sources claim the painting may have been purchased by a buyer from Qatar and may be intended for museum display in the country.
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The sale was confirmed by the seller, Rudolf Staechelin, as the NY Times reports. The 62-year-old is a retired Sotheby's executive who owns more than twenty works of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, including others by Gauguin. The works have been in Staechelin's family for three generations and Nafea Faa Ipoipo was previously on loan to a museum in Basel, Switzerland.
Staechelin refused to divulge who the buyer was or even their country of origin. However, sources speaking to the NY Times claim the buyer was from Qatar. The BBC further suggests this is likely as the purchasers of the other record breaking paintings have originated from the country. Prior to the sale of Nafea Faa Ipoipo, Paul Cezanne's The Card Players was believed to be the most expensive painting ever sold at £158m in 2011. Cezanne's painting was also bought by Qataris and is in line with other purchases particularly under the former Minister of Culture, Sheikh Saud bin Mohammed Al-Thani. Al-Thani reportedly spent more than $1billion on purchasing expensive Western art to display in the country.
Read More: Art Theft: Picasso, Monet, Matisse and Gaguin Paintings Stolen From Rotterdam Museum.
Gauguin painting becomes most expensive work of art ever sold http://t.co/MomGz5s5vi pic.twitter.com/VMrMSS2OxS
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 7, 2015
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