bidzina_ivanishviliTBILISI, DFWatch–A large, colorful abstract Willem de Kooning painting from one of the artist’s most productive periods was Tuesday sold at Christie’s post-war and contemporary auction in New York. The price: USD 66.3 million.

The Dutch-American artist’s ‘Untitled XXV’ from 1977 was acquired by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili in 2009 for USD 35 million. Its current value was estimated to about USD 40 million before the auction.

It was purchased by an anonymous client who bid by phone. Ivanishvili, the former prime minister of Georgia, sold it through Lynden Management Ltd, a person familiar with the matter said, as reported by Bloomberg Pursuits.

Ivanishvili reportedly owns a collection of art whose worth is estimated at about USD 1 billion. The most expensive artwork in the collection is Pablo Picasso’s ‘Dora Maar’.

In September 2015, de Kooning’s ‘Interchange’ was sold for USD 300 million, and so far it is the largest sum paid for a painting, along with Paul Gauguin’s ‘Nafea faa ipoipo’ (When Will You Marry?).