Attendees view Amedeo Modigliani's "Reclining Nude" during a curated auction at Christie's entitled "The Artist's Muse" in New York November 9, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

Chinese collector Liu Yiqian bought Amedeo Modigliani's 1917 signature portrait of a nude woman for $170.4 million on Monday at Christie's in New York, setting a record for the Italian artist's works.

Liu, founder of the Long Museum in Shanghai, won the bidding after more than 10 rounds for Modigliani's Reclining Nude at a price that, according to Christie's, was the second-highest ever paid for artwork sold at auction.

The winning bid also was the highest that a Chinese buyer has paid for a Western artwork. In recent years, super-rich Chinese buyers frequently have offered high prices for works by Western masters such as Picasso, Van Gogh and Monet.

Jussi Pylkkanen, Christie's global president, said the auction house has a good relationship with collectors from China.

Lark Mason, an art dealer and founder of iGavel Auctions and Lark Mason Associates, said, "At the rarified top end of the art market, Chinese buyers are searching for iconic objects, both Chinese and Western, such as the Modigliani sold at Christie's.

"I expect to see a further escalation in prices for the top-end of the market for the foreseeable future, and continued and expanded interested in Chinese buyers in Western art," he said.

Chinese buyers have been acquiring more Western pieces, such as a purchase by Dalian Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin of Picasso's Claude and Paloma in 2013.

Wang Zhongjun, a movie mogul, bought a $62 million Van Gogh painting from Sotheby's last year.

The ultra wealthy in China are spending their money on things that are more associated with other global elites, experts said.

"It's interesting to see people in China on the very high end move from investing in things like watches and jewelry and real estate — things they know pretty well — into some of these areas like art collection and antique watch-collecting, things that are a bit more esoteric," said Sage Brennan, co-founder of advisory firm China Luxury Advisors.

After the purchase, Liu, 52, wrote on his WeChat account that Modigliani's piece opens a new phase for the Long Museum's collection. Liu told The Wall Street Journal that Long Museum houses mostly traditional Chinese pieces, and that the Modigliani is a "great opportunity for us to collect a world masterpiece and will bring our museum to a new era".

Regarding the purchase, the Long Museum wrote in an e-mail to China Daily that the masterpiece will enrich the collection of Liu and his wife, who began buying artwork years ago, purchasing not only Chinese artwork, but also art from elsewhere in Asia as well as Europe and the United States. Reclining Nude will be housed in the Long Museum and shown to the public later, according to the museum.

Liu founded his art museum in Shanghai with his wife, Wang Wei, in 2012. Since then, he has made several high-priced purchases of Chinese antiques, each grabbing headlines in domestic media.

In July, Liu bought a chicken cup used by emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) at a Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong for a record price of $36.3 million.

When he got the chicken cup, he used it for sipping tea, stirring a hot discussion among netizens about whether an antique cup should be used by its owner for such a purpose.

In November last year, he bought an embroidered silk thangka at Christie's in Hong Kong for $45 million, setting a record for a Chinese piece of art. The thangka, which dates back 600 years, depicts Buddhist imagery on fabric.

Liu said at last year's Chinese Art Market Summit that he enjoys offering high bids at auction and has become somewhat addicted to buying artworks at international auction houses.