Sotheby’s New York sold Mark Rothko’s painting *Brown and Blacks in Reds* (1957) for $85.8 million on Thursday, making it the second-highest price ever achieved for the artist at auction. The work, part of Rothko’s postwar Color Field series, was offered from the private collection of the late art dealer Robert Mnuchin, whose estate also included works by Willem de Kooning. The Mnuchin sale totaled $166.3 million, with de Kooning’s *Untitled* (1970) fetching $8.8 million and *Untitled XLII* (1983) reaching $10.2 million. Bidding lasted about four minutes, with the winning bid placed via phone with Helena Newman, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe.
The sale underscores the enduring strength of the high-end art market, particularly for blue-chip postwar American painters. Rothko’s near-record price—just shy of the $86.9 million paid for *Orange, Red, Yellow* in 2012—signals sustained collector appetite for iconic Color Field works with distinguished provenance, including ownership by Joseph E. Seagram & Sons and exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery. Sotheby’s vice chair David Galperin described the market as “discerning but excitable,” suggesting that while buyers are selective, they remain willing to pay top dollar for exceptional pieces from notable collections.