Madonna’s French Painting Sells For $7.2 Million; Proceeds To Benefit Girls’ Education

A French painting owned by Madonna has sold at a New York City auction for more than $7 million.

Sotheby’s auction house hasn’t said who bought Fernand Leger’s “Three Women at the Red Table” for $7.2 million on Tuesday. The abstract work had a pre-sale estimate of $5 million to $7 million.

Proceeds of the sale will benefit the Ray of Light Foundation, which supports girls’ education in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries.

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Madonna says she wanted to “trade something valuable for something invaluable” in countries where female education is rare or nonexistent. She bought the work at Sotheby’s in 1990 for $3.4 million.

Leger created the work in 1921 as part of a series depicting women with still-life compositions.