A painting by Jackson Pollock featuring the artist’s signature swoops, swirls, pours, and drizzles set a stunning new auction record in New York on Monday night, selling for an astonishing $181.2 million US.
The artwork, Number 7A, 1948, one of Pollock’s most celebrated drip paintings, nearly tripled the artist’s previous auction record, according to Christie’s Auction House.
Widely viewed as the highlight of the evening’s sale and a landmark work in Pollock’s career, the oil-and-enamel painting on raw canvas — measuring nearly one metre tall and more than three metres wide — was sold after less than seven minutes of intense bidding. The final price reached $181,185,000 (all figures US), with the buyer remaining anonymous.
Pollock created Number 7A, 1948 at the age of 36, less than 10 years before his death, while working inside the barn studio at his Long Island home near East Hampton, Christie’s said. Although many of his drip paintings eventually became part of museum collections, Number 7A, 1948 was the largest example still held privately.
The painting was one of 16 modern works offered Monday night from the personal collection of the late S.I. Newhouse, the American media executive and co-owner of the Condé Nast media empire, who died in 2017. Christie’s had previously auctioned other works from his collection, most recently in 2023.
Also surpassing the $100 million mark was Danaïde, a sculpture by Constantin Brancusi, which sold for $107.6 million.
Altogether, Monday evening’s sale of 20th-century works from the Newhouse collection — featuring art by Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Joan Miró, Andy Warhol, and Jasper Johns — brought in a combined total of $631 million, including auction house fees.
“We were pleased to see the enthusiasm of our team was matched by our clients and delighted by the eager and engaged bidding from start to finish,” Paige Kestenman, Christie’s co-head of the 20th Century Evening Sale, said in a statement.
Harnaik Singh Rathor is the Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of StudioX News Canada, Canada's multilingual digital news network serving diaspora communities across 44 languages. With a background in media production, public relations, and multicultural communications, he founded StudioX Film and TV Corporation to bridge the gap between mainstream Canadian media and the country's diverse immigrant communities. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), RTDNA Canada, CPRS Vancouver, Unifor, NEPMCC, and the Canada Freelance Union. He holds CAVCO Personnel Number SINH0106. Based in Surrey, British Columbia. | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harnaiksinghrathor/ | Muck Rack: https://muckrack.com/harnaiksinghrathor | Email: editor@studioxnews.ca
