Sotheby's has chosen Hong Kong to unveil its most expensive painting ever to go to auction. Amedeo Modigliani's "Nu couche", is expected to fetch more than 150 million USD in New York next month - the highest estimate ever for a work of art at auction.

The international auction house chose to unveil Modigliani's Nu couche in Asia, instead of Europe, due to increasing interest in this part of the world for expensive contemporary artworks.

Nu couche is one of the 22 reclining nudes from the painter's iconic series that was part of an exhibition that the police shut down when they were first put on public display in 1917.

SIMON SHAW CO-HEAD OF IMPRESSIONIST & MODERN ART, WORLDWIDE, SOTHEBY'S "Well, this is Modigliani's greatest painting out of everything that he had painted. This is the best one. It is very rare one actually has the opportunity to acquire the best of an artist's work. Most of the great nudes by Modigliani are in museums."

Measuring 58 inches, or 147 centimetres across, it is the largest work from Modigliani. It is also the only one from the series that is horizontal - showing the entire figure on the canvas. The current owner bought the painting in 2003 for 26.9 million US dollars.

SIMON SHAW CO-HEAD OF IMPRESSIONIST & MODERN ART, WORLDWIDE, SOTHEBY'S "What is really special about these works is they reinvent re-imagine the nude for the modern era somehow. What Modigliani does is show his model on a level, the way that the gaze that meets yours. She is very confident in her sexuality, she is very self- possessed, very proud in her sexuality. That is something new in painting the nude."

The international auction house says the spike in demand for contemporary art in Asia has directed it to unveil such an important painting in Hong Kong rather than New York or London.

KEVIN CHING CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SOTHEBY'S ASIA "Traditionally, a picture of this magnificence would be previewed in New York or London. But what we have actually seen in recent years is a grown interest among Asian clients including those from China. They are very much interested in Impressionist paintings, modern paintings as well as contemporary art, especially those of top quality. If you look at our results in 2017 our November Impressionist sales in New York, five out of the top ten pictures are actually brought by Asians."

The painting is open to the public for viewing over the next two days in Hong Kong. I will go to auction in New York on May 14th.