The Tamesis
A Mark Rothko painting by influential art dealer Robert Mnuchin sold for $85.8 million at Sotheby’s on Thursday night, narrowly setting an auction record for the Abstract Expressionist painter. Despite this, the painting remains the second-most sold Rothko painting at auction.
Rothko’s Color Field paintings from the postwar period often sell for high prices at auction. But few people can sell for such a high price brown and black reda 1957 abstract painting up for auction this week as part of the Mnuchin Collection sale. It is one of the most expensive works of art sold at a New York auction house this week.
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Before the sale, Sotheby’s said on its website that the painting was subject to both a guarantee and an irrevocable bid, both of which secured the work’s sale. However, because Sotheby’s did not publicly announce the amount of its irrevocable bid before the auction, it was impossible to say whether the painting would sell within the $70 million to $100 million estimate or exceed it.
brown and black red It ended up well below the estimated upper limit. Its transaction price was US$74 million, close to the lower end of the expected range. However, factoring in the premium, the painting’s value rises to $85.8 million. The result was enough to win applause from the Sotheby’s auction room.
One of the reasons this painting is so sought after is its provenance. It debuted at the Sidney Janis Gallery, a tasteful space that promoted the image of Abstract Expressionism, and was later acquired by Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., where it hangs in the lobby of its eponymous Manhattan headquarters.
In 2003, the Vivendi Group (which acquired Seagram in 2001) consigned the painting to Christie’s, where it was sold for $6.7 million. It was one of two Rothkos Mnuchin purchased that night. another bigger painting No. 9 (white and black wine)The 1958 work sold for $16.3 million, setting a Rothko auction record at the time. “They are wonderful photos,” Mnuchin told reporters new york times then.
Since then, Rothko’s auction records have skyrocketed. His baseline price remains $86.9 million, according to Christie’s auction results. Orange, red, yellow (1961) 2012.
Mnuchin, who ran an Upper East Side gallery in his own name before his death in 2025, also collected many other notable works of art, 11 of which were auctioned at Sotheby’s on Thursday. Alongside Rothko are paintings by Willem de Kooning, Pablo Picasso and Franz Kline, as well as sculptures by Jeff Koons. All of these works have been sold.
