Time For Auction
Through all of this research, they were able to confirm that the portrait of Marthe de Florian was a true Boldini work. They went to auction it up, as there were literally no other family to take ownership. They started it at a meek $331,000, but after 10 bidders went into an all out war, it ended up selling for $3.4 million. This was a world record for any of the Italian artists works. Ottavi said of the auction, “It was a magic moment. One could see that the buyer loved the painting; he paid the passion.”