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Christie's NY Auction Tops $1.1 B, Pollock, Brancusi Set Records

5/19/2026

Summary

Christie's Shatters Records

Christie’s auction house in New York sold $1,121,126,500 of art on May 19 2026.
Jackson Pollock’s Number 7A (1948), Constantin Brancusi’s bronze Danaïde (c. 1913) and Mark Rothko’s No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe) each set new records of $181.2 million, $107.6 million and $98,385,000 respectively.
Sixteen Newhouse works generated $630.8 million, with a later sale adding $490.3 million for a $1.1 billion total.
Nicole Kidman appeared in a promotional video for Brancusi’s Danaïde.

Summary

Pollock Canvas Sold

The Pollock canvas Number 7A, over three metres wide, was sold from media magnate S.I. Newhouse’s private collection.
Christie’s described it as freeing Pollock from conventional easel painting, highlighted its black drips with red, and called his drip technique one of the most recognisable and often imitated methods.
The auction also featured Constantin Brâncusi’s bronze head Danaïde (c. 1913), which became the second-most expensive sculpture ever sold at auction.

History

Historical Context

In May 2010 Sotheby's sold Picasso’s “Les Femmes d’Alger (Version O)” for $179.4 million, shattering the $120 million record set by “The Scream” in 2012 and sparking a decade of record-chasing sales. The 2026 Christie's New York auction of Pollock’s “Number 7A” at $181.2 million echoes that surge, pitting Sotheby’s and Christie's in fierce competition for high-net-worth collectors like Gérard Wertheimer.

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Christie's Shatters Records

Christie’s auction house in New York sold $1,121,126,500 of art on May 19 2026.
Jackson Pollock’s Number 7A (1948), Constantin Brancusi’s bronze Danaïde (c. 1913) and Mark Rothko’s No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe) each set new records of $181.2 million, $107.6 million and $98,385,000 respectively.
Sixteen Newhouse works generated $630.8 million, with a later sale adding $490.3 million for a $1.1 billion total.
Nicole Kidman appeared in a promotional video for Brancusi’s Danaïde.

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