Jackson Pollock painting fetches record $181M at New York auction

A Jackson Pollock artwork described as one of history’s “first truly abstract paintings” sold for $181 million (£135 million) at auction in New York.

The painting, Number 7A, 1948, went under the hammer at Christie’s auction house Monday, shattering the previous auction record for a work by the late American artist.

Previously owned by media magnate S.I. Newhouse, the piece became the fourth most expensive artwork ever sold at auction, according to ARTnews.

The same collection included a bronze sculpture by Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi, which sold for $107.6 million — the second-highest price ever achieved for a sculpture at auction.

Pollock, who died in 1956, was a leading figure in the abstract expressionist movement. His signature drip painting technique remains one of the art world’s most recognizable and most often imitated.

The previous auction record for a Pollock painting was $61.2 million for his Number 17, 1951, sold in 2021. Other works have surpassed that in private sales.

Christie’s described Number 7A, 1948, which features black paint drips with touches of red on a canvas spanning more than three meters, as a pivotal piece of art history.

“It is with this work that Pollock finally frees himself from the shackles of conventional easel painting and produces one of the first truly abstract paintings in the history of art,” Christie’s wrote in its online description.

Other pieces sold at the Christie’s auction included works by Mark Rothko and Joan Miró, each breaking previous auction records for those artists.