Pollock's Number 7A Sells for $181 Million, Becoming Fourth-Most-Expensive Auction Artwork
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 19
Pollock's Number 7A Sells for $181 Million, Becoming Fourth-Most-Expensive Auction Artwork
7 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 19
$181 million bought Jackson Pollock's Number 7A, 1948 at Christie's in New York, shattering the artist's previous auction record of $61.2 million set in 2021.
The more than three-meter canvas came from media magnate S.I. Newhouse's collection, and Christie's called it a breakthrough work that helped free Pollock from conventional easel painting.
The same sale also delivered a $107.6 million Brancusi bronze — the second-highest auction price for a sculpture — while works by Mark Rothko and Joan Miró set artist auction records.
Pollock's result underscores the pull of trophy single-owner collections in a recovering high-end art market, with Newhouse works helping Christie's top $1.1 billion during its marquee New York sales.
With masterpieces fetching nine figures, will these cultural treasures ever be seen by the public again?
Is the art market's record resurgence a true recovery, or a speculative bubble for the ultra-wealthy?