Gauguin painting sells for record $300 million

LONDON, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Paul Gauguin's painting of two Tahitian girls, "Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?)," was sold for nearly $300 million, the largest amount paid for any single work of art.

The New York Times reported the oil painting was sold from a private Swiss collection, possibly to a museum in Qatar.

The seller, Rudolf Staechelin, who oversees the Staechelin Family Trust, confirmed the painting was sold. Staechelin, 62, a retired Sotheby's executive living in Basel, Switzerland, would not say if the new owner was from Qatar.

"I don't deny it and I don't confirm it," he told The New York Times.

In an interview with the Swiss newspaper Basler Zeitung, Staechelin said the sale price was "not just a two-digit million sum." The painting has hung in the Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland for about a half century. In a written statement, the museum said it "profoundly regrets" the sale and the removal of other works on loan from Staechelin.

Staechelin said the painting was sold because the trust got a good offer.

"The market is very high and who knows what it will be in 10 years. I always tried to keep as much together as I could," he said. "Over 90 percent of our assets are paintings hanging for free in the museum."

The Kunstmuseum closed last weekend for renovations through 2016, but the painting will be on display at the Beyeler Foundation in Switzerland and other public locations for some time. The buyer will take ownership in January.