Earlier this week on Tuesday evening at auction house Sotheby’s a highly acclaimed painting by artist Mark Rothko sold for $75.1 million to an undisclosed buyer. Rothko’s 1954 painting “No.1 (Royal, Red and Blue)” commanded the second highest price ever for a Rothko, according to a recent Los Angeles Times article.
The New York Times describes Rothko’s “No. 1 (Royal, Red and Blue)” painting as being “all about color balance. One large orange-red area dominates the picture above a compressed deep pink band, which itself rests on a slightly higher blue band.”
This week’s sale exceeded high expectations by a third as Rothko’s painting was expected to fetch between $35 million and $50 million. Prior to this week’s sale, Sotheby’s President John Marion was the longtime owner of the painting, which had been in his collection since 1982.
Another painting by Rothko entitled “Orange, Red, Yellow” set a record high for the artist and sold for an astonishing $87 million at Christie’s back in May.