Rothko painting "No.7" brings 82.5 million US dollars

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This is »No.7«: the identity of the buyer was not disclosed

Photo: JASON SZENES / EPA

A painting by painter Mark Rothko fetched $ 82.5 million at auction in New York.

This is the second highest price for a work by the late artist.

The auction house Sotheby's had speculated on a bid of between 70 and 90 million US dollars for the painting from 1951 with the title "No.7".

It was not known who bought the painting.

In 2012, the Rothko plant "Orange, Red, Yellow" achieved $ 86.9 million.

The highest sum ever spent on a painting by the artist.

The now sold Rothko

work belongs to Macklowe Collection - who had acquired the real estate mogul Harry Macklowe and his wife Linda in 45 years of a collection.

A New York judge ordered them to sell the collection and split the proceeds during their 2018 divorce proceedings.

Five years ago, Linda Macklowe filed for divorce after 57 years of marriage.

But the couple seemed unable to divide their collection apart, so a court ordered 65 works to be sold.

The combined value of the collection is one billion dollars, making it one of the most expensive collections ever to be auctioned.

Sotheby's had previously claimed that the auction would go down in history as a “decisive moment”.

Other works sold included the sculpture "Le Nez" by the Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti from 1947. It brought in 78.4 million US dollars.

Andy Warhol's "Nine Marilyns" screen print from 1962 raised $ 48.5 million.

Sixteen Jackies, a tribute to former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, fetched $ 33.9 million.

Sotheby's said the 65 works in the Macklowe Collection are "an incomparable ensemble that shows the highlights of Western artistic achievements over the past 80 years."

kha / Reuters