Sotheby's withdraws $30-40mn Schiele from NY auction
Egon Shiele's "Danae," valued at $30-40 million has been dramatically withdrawn from sale by Sotheby's in New York New York (AFP) Sotheby's dramatically withdrew from sale an early Schiele nude valued at $30-40 million, the star lot of its flagship impressionist and modern art auction in New York on Tuesday. The female nude, "Danae" which Austrian artist Egon Schiele painted when he was just 19 years old, had adorned the cover of the catalogue for the sale and was the background image on Sotheby's Twitter account. The auction house was tight-lipped on what happened, confirming only that it had been withdrawn "at the request of the consignor prior to the auction." Simon Shaw, Sotheby's co-head of impressionist and modern art, had earlier this month described it as the artist's first large-scale nude and Schiele as "one of the great rock stars of modern painting." Partially inspired by Klimt, Schie...