Jackson Pollock painting sells for record $181m at auction

The Abstract Expressionist's Number 7A, 1948 painting is now his most expensive artwork ever sold at auction. Jackson Pollock painting sells for record $181m at US auction Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. A person with long hair in silhouette is seen facing the artwork holding their mobile phone to video the painting. The artwork is long horizontally and the grey canvass appears a light tan colour under the gallery lights. It features black paint flicks and splashes all over it, together with some fewer red markings. Jackson Pollock painting sells for record $181m at auction Number 7A, 1948 has been owned by some of the most important art collectors of the past half century, according to Christie's A Jackson Pollock artwork, described as one of history's "first truly abstract paintings", has sold at auction for $181m (£135m) in New York. Number 7A, 1948, which went under the hammer at the renowned Christie's auction house on Monday, smashed the previous record for the most a work by the late American artist has taken at auction. The painting, which came from the private collection of media magnate SI Newhouse, is also now the fourth most expensive artwork ever sold at auction, according to ARTnews. Also in the collection was a bronze sculpture by Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi, which sold for $107.6m - the second highest amount a sculpture has ever gone for at auction. Danaide by Constantin Brancusi also sold for more than $100m at the Christie's auction A bronze sculpture depicting a face sits on a table with a black background Pollock, who died in 1956, was a major figure in the abstract expressionist art movement. His drip painting technique is one the art world's most recognisable and often imitated. The previous auction record for one of Pollock's artworks was $61.2m for his Number 17, 1951 painting, which was sold in 2021. Other pieces have sold for higher prices in private sales. Christie's called Number 7A, 1948, which depicts black drips of paint with touches of red on a huge canvas spanning more than three metres, a key 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," it wrote in its description of the piece online. Other artworks sold at the Christie's auction included pieces by Mark Rothko and Joan Miro, which also both broke previous records for works by the artists at auction. A female visitor views a painting by American abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock A glimpse at Picasso and Pollock masterpieces kept in Tehran vault Sotheby's employees hold US artist Andy Warhol"s 'Nine Marilyn's' 'Da Vinci artwork' sells for record $450m A blue painting by Picasso, in his trademark cubist style, framed on the wall beside a woman holding a microphone up to her mobile phone, which shows a video call with a man wearing glasses - both are smiling broadly. Man wins €1m Picasso painting in €100 charity raffle The book, signed by Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller, is up for sale Woking, on 29 May. Nettie Edmonson says "I genuinely haven't thought they might be worth some money". Dave Harrison is selling 50 of his beloved tractors and hopes to make 'up to £500k' for retirement. Tracey Emin, one of Britain's most uncompromising artists, reflects on survival and a renewed urgency to create. An exhibition exploring Tove Jansson's characters is designed with families in mind. Judy Young, of Bromyard, says it is "very moving" to paint someone for their family after they died. An artist has completed an 18ft (5.6m) drawing of buildings on one of Lincoln's oldest streets. Stewart Taylor, who turned 80 last month, says he draws inspiration from Hull and the Humber area.