Onement VI Painting by Barnett Newman Sets New Auction Record

A new Barnett Newman record was recently set at a Sotheby’s auction in New York. The painting that made the evening’s most significant sale was a 1953 abstract composition in deep blue, called Onement VI. The work was sold to a telephone bidder for a whopping $43.8 million, which is significantly more than the previous record held by the American abstract expressionist artist: $22.4 million for a painting in the same series.

Also a noteworthy success was the sale of the 1968 Domplatz, Mailand [Cathedral Square, Milan] by Gerhard Richter. By fetching an impressive $37,125,000, the painting became the new most expensive work of art sold at auction by a living artist.

Jackson Pollock’s 1946 Blue Unconscious was sold for over $20 million, together with four other works that made it into the same price range. Overall, the sale was a success, raising $293.6 million, which is more than the low presale estimates, but much less than the high estimates of $382.9 million. Eleven of the total 64 works could not find interested buyers.