A large bronze sculpture of a woman’s back by Henri Matisse sold Wednesday for nearly 49 million dollars, setting a new record for the French impressionist.

Measuring 74.5 inches (189.2 cm), “Nu de dos” was the star of the auction at Christie’s in New York.

It went under the hammer just a day after rival Sotheby’s auctioned an Amedeo Modigliani painting for a record 69 million dollars.

“Nu de dos, 4 etat (Back IV),” had been estimated to sell for between 25 and 35 million dollars, before a bidding war sent the price spiraling to 48,802,500 dollars.

Five works including paintings by modern masters Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso have been stolen from a Paris museum.

The canvases – worth a total of 100 million euros ($123m) – were discovered missing from the city-run Musee d’Art Moderne when it opened its doors.

Museum officials found a broken window and a sheared-off padlock, suggesting the heist took place overnight Wednesday.

Besides the Matisse and the Picasso, works by Georges Braque, Ferdinand Leger and Amedeo Modigliani were also stolen, the officials said.

The granddaughter of legendary painter Henri Matisse has created 5 new unique chess sets for an upcoming exhibit.

Four of the chess sets have their own unique imagery, but they also come together to create a unique design.

Each chess set can be purchased for $16,000 at The Beyond the Border International Contemporary Art Fair, San Diego, scheduled for September 2-4, 2009 at The Grand Del Mar.