Mark Rothko’s fiery “Orange, Red, Yellow” sold for a record $86.9 million at Christie’s in New York last night in the biggest-ever postwar and contemporary art auction.
Artist records were also set for Jackson Pollock, Gerhard Richter, Barnett Newman, Alexander Calder and Yves Klein, among others, in last night’s $388.5 million, 59-lot sale. It exceeded Christie’s $384.7 million tally in May 2007, the previous contemporary auction champ, as well as the high $330 million presale estimate.
“Billionaires have gone global,” New York dealer Jack Tilton said upon exiting the midtown salesroom. “It’s very healthy for the market, obviously.”
The 8-by-7-foot Rothko surged past its $45 million presale high estimate amid multiple telephone bids. Christie’s said it was the highest price for a contemporary artwork, displacing an $86.3 million Francis Bacon at Sotheby’s in May 2008.
Last night’s 1961 Rothko was one of 13 artworks from the estate of David Pincus, the retired chairman of apparel manufacturer Pincus Brothers-Maxwell, who died in December. It was on loan to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where Pincus was a trustee. Pincus and his wife, Gerry, bought it from New York’s Marlborough Gallery in 1967.
Another Pincus trophy, Pollock’s canvas “No. 28,” sold for $23 million, almost doubling the previous Pollock record of $11.7 million, set in 2004. Newman’s 1952 painting “Onement V” went for $22.5 million, surpassing the high estimate of $15 million and the artist’s record of $5.2 million.
The Pincus 13 totaled $174.9 million.
