Bea Arthur Nude Fetches $1.9 Milllion

She wasn't known as a sex symbol, but a nude painting of Bea Arthur just sold for nearly $2 million in a Christie's auction. INSIDE EDITION has the surprising story.

She's the actress best known for her role on the classic TV show Golden Girls, but now, the late Bea Arthur is "golden" in a whole other way.

Believe it or not, the painting entitled "Bea Arthur Naked" was sold at auction Wednesday night for a jaw-dropping $1.9 million dollars.

On CBS This Morning, Gayle King asked the question that's on everyone's mind: "Where does one hang a topless painting of Bea Arthur in their home?"

The topless portrait was painted in 1991, and rest assured, Bea Arthur never posed for it. Artist John Currin says his painting was inspired by an earlier TV role that put the actress on the map.

Maude was Bea Arthur's ground-breaking show from the early 70's. She played a pioneering feminist, unafraid to tackle any issue.

The painting closely resembles the way Bea Arthur looked back then. It was sold at Christie's Auction House to an anonymous buyer bidding over the phone.

To many minds, Bea Arthur was the opposite of a sex symbol. In a scene from the movie Airheads, a bunch of knuckleheads are holding hostages at a radio station, and Brendan Fraser makes a bizarre demand: "We want naked pictures of Bea Arthur."

Bea Arthur died four years ago at age 86. But if she were alive today, she'd probably be having the last laugh knowing somebody bought a topless painting of her for nearly $2 million.