Sotheby’s auction house in New York has fetched a record amount of cash for contemporary art work with the sale of a painting by United States abstract artist Mark Rothko for $72,8-million.
The canvas by the Latvian-born painter, entitled Yellow, Pink, Lavender on Rose, had been valued at about $40-million.
The piece went to a buyer who asked to remain anonymous, according to the auction house. It had been part of the collection of the New York philanthropist David Rockefeller since 1960.
”I am very pleased that it did so well,” Rockefeller said in a statement. ”I have enjoyed living with it for 47 years. I am sorry to see it go, but I hope the next owner enjoys it as much as I have.”
Rothko had previously established the top worldwide sales record for an American painter with $22,4-million paid at the end of 2005 for his painting Hommage a Matisse, another record for a post-war art auction sale.
Also at Tuesday evening’s sale, Study from Pope Innocent X, a painting by the British artist Francis Bacon based on a series created by 17th-century Spanish master Diego Velazquez, fetched $52,68-million, eclipsing the expected $30-million tag.
The prior record sale for a British painter was $27,6-million.
The most expensive contemporary painting sold to date was Jackson Pollock’s No 5, 1948, which took $140-million in a private sale to an anonymous buyer last year.
But on Tuesday a number of records were broken as wealthy collectors showed their eagerness to dip deep into their pockets for great works of art.
A 1981 untitled painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat was sold for $14,6-million to a private collector. The artist’s previous top sale had been $5,5-million.
Photograph, from Robert Rauschenberg’s 1959 Combines series, went for $10,68-million. The American’s prior record had been $7,26-million.
In all, the auction house brought in $254,8-million for 65 lots sold.
More spring sales were expected to rake in record cash on Wednesday with Christie’s May 16 auction, which it touted as ”the most valuable post-war and contemporary art evening sale to take place”. Sales were projected to reach between $225-million and $300-million.
Ten Andy Warhol paintings were to go under the hammer, including Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I) (1963), which could sell for between $25-million and $35-million, beating the previous record for his work. — Sapa-AFP