An abstract painting by New York artist Barnett Newman that features a field of blue paint crossed by a ragged white line sold last night for $43.8 million — more than most Manhattan penthouses — to conclude a bidding war at Sotheby’s.
Previously owned by Microsft co-founder Paul Allen, the work was bought by an unidentified bidder over the phone.
The nearly $44 million price tag for “Onement VI” — which looks like a canvas version of the video game Pong — surpassed the estimated $30 million to $40 million price.
“The speculative element is returning to the market,” said Jonathan Binstock, senior adviser in postwar and contemporary art at Citi Private Bank.
“There’s more money to spend on riskier opportunities, ones that would have seemed unappealing just a few years prior.”
Four artists, including Gerhard Richter and Nate Lowman, broke records at the auction, which fetched a total of $294 million at the prestigious auction house.
Newman is said to be influenced by other abstract expressionists such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Frank Stella.