People are still talking about Sotheby's sale of "The Scream" for a record-breaking $119.9 million last week.
But last night at rival auction house Christie's post-war and contemporary sale, several major artist records were broken as well.
The highlight of the evening was the sale of Mark Rothko's "Orange, Red, and Yellow," a 1961 oil painting, which went to an anonymous buyer for $86.8 million, well above its high estimate of $45 million. It became the most expensive contemporary work of art ever sold, and set an auction record for the artist.
The sale brought in a total of $388 million, with 95 percent of lots sold.
In addition to Rothko, five other artist records were also broken:
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Yves Klein, FC1 (Fire Color 1) from 1962 sold for $36.5 million (est. $30 to $40 million)
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Jackson Pollock, Number 28, 1951 from 1951 sold for $23 million (est. $20 to $30 million)
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Barnett Newman, Onement V from 1952 sold for $22.5 million (est. $10 to $15 million)
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Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (798-3) from 1993 sold for $21.8 million (est. $14 to $18 million)
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Alexander Calder, Lily of Force, standing mobile from 1945 sold for $18.6 million (est. $8 to $12 million)
All of the buyers remained anonymous.
