By Nancy Acton Weeks of feverish, behind-the-scenes fund-raising ended in victory for the Masterworks Foundation on Friday when a friend acting on its behalf cast the successful bid at Sotheby's in New York for a painting of his wife by celebrated French cubist Albert Gleizes.

`Portrait of Juliette,' an oil on masonite, was painted during the couple's visit to Bermuda in 1917. It had remained in the family collection before being put up for auction last week, and was only ever exhibited once -- in 1984 at the Salle Boissae in France.

Speaking just hours after the good news was received, an ecstatic Mrs. Elise Outerbridge, curator of the Masterworks Foundation collection, said the registered charity was thrilled to know that the portrait would be coming to the Island.

"Everything worked out for the best. We have finally obtained a piece that I have been dreaming about and hoping we could secure,'' she said. "Because it is so unique, the portrait is probably one of the most important pieces we have brought home to the people of Bermuda. Along with the Marsden Hartley oil, the Homers and the O'Keefe, it means that Bermuda now has a truly international collection.'' Sotheby's had estimated `Portrait of Juliette' would fetch between $180,000 and $220,000 at auction, but on the day it went for $170,000.

Mrs. Outerbridge revealed that funding had come exclusively from private donors and private foundations, and had only been completed the night before the auction.

"We had no corporate assistance. The lead donor was the Humann Foundation, and the others -- one of whom has only just arrived on the Island -- prefer to remain anonymous at this time,'' she said. "Masterworks is thrilled that, through the generosity of these wonderful benefactors, we have been successful.

"It really is quite extraordinary, and just goes to show that there is a very serious nucleus of benefactors here who are willing to contribute when something of this calibre comes up.'' An equally ebullient Tom Butterfield said that while the Foundation had been on very, very solid ground going into the auction, waiting for success was akin to an election.

Benefactors boost Collection Continuedfrom Page 1 "You are on tenterhooks and have no idea what the result is going to be until it's over. We were familiar with the Gleizes resume n, but it was really sheer luck that a portrait of his wife would come out of the family estate.'' Describing the anxious hours he and Mrs. Outerbridge spent waiting for news of the Foundation's bid as "an absolute, awesome rollercoaster ride'', Mr.

Butterfield said of the outcome: "What a day, what a day. For the first time ever, I celebrated with a nice glass of wine at work. The acquisition is just fantastic, and digs deep into the Bermudiana collection in a way that we had never really expected.

"This is a huge chapter in the Bermuda story, and years down the road people will come to understand that. This gives the Masterworks collection a completely fresh direction, which is fabulous.'' Once all the formalities are completed, and the painting arrives in Bermuda, the Foundation hopes to put it on public display as soon as possible thereafter.

In addition to being one of the outstanding cubists in the Salon des Inde n pendants of 1911, Gleizes was a well-known illustrator and writer on art. In 1912, together with Jean Metzinger, he authored "Du Cubisme,'' the first exposition on the principles of cubism, which is still in print today.

Bermudiana bound: Masterworks is celebrating its newest acquisition, `Portrait of Juliette', by celebrated French cubist Albert Gleizes.