We’re in the midst of the Fall fine art auction season. On Monday night, a painting of a nude reclining figure by early 20th artist Amedeo Modigliani went for more than $170 million at Christie’s auction house. 

Fun fact about Modigliani: it’s not like he only painted a few pictures in his lifetime. He was prolific, and that might have been part of the high price last night. But what about the rules of supply and demand?

Blake Gopnik, critic-at-large for Artnet News and a contributor to the New York Times, joined us from the archives of The Andy Warhol Museum, where he’s researching his new biography of the artist. 

Click the media player above to hear Blake Gopnik explain the economics behind the supply and demand of fine art.