Painted in 1892 during Gauguin's first stay in Tahiti, the work had been part of a private Swiss collection for over half a century before its sale.
It rarely, if ever, appeared publicly during that time.
Reported at roughly $210 million in a private sale, it briefly ranked among the most expensive paintings ever sold.
Another entry in a growing pattern of national museums and royal families quietly absorbing the art world's biggest trophies.
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