On whose behalf was the auctioneer bidding?
In the Merchant Ivory picture, Le Divorce, a painting is auctioned towards the end of the movie. Stephen Fry plays the role of an auctioneer (possibly representing Christie's from London) who has had a prior meeting with the Walkers, the sellers of the painting. To them, he values the painting at around a million pounds. During the auction, however, bidding started at two million euros and Fry is also placing bids on the painting which eventually sells for over 4 million euros to a third party.
Did the Walkers spurn Fry's (Christie's) offer? Or was Fry bidding on the painting in order to drive up the price?
(Incidentally, who was the eventual buyer? She (character) looked familiar.)
Best Answer
Actress Bebe Neuwirth (Lilith in 80 episodes of "Cheers" and 12 of "Frazier) played the successful and obviously rich buyer, whose face rather resembled the saint in the painting (not a real Le Tours). Her face was also seen on the truck driven at the end of the film. Not sure of her relationship to other characters, since I only caught the last 30 minutes of the flick. Been trying unsuccessfully to see an online image of the painting.
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Italian Auction
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