A Jackson Pollock drip painting, *Number 7A* (1948), formerly owned by media magnate S. I. Newhouse, sold at Christie’s on Monday night for a hammer price of $157 million, totaling $181.2 million with fees. The work, measuring nearly 11 feet wide, received over 60 bids in a 10-minute bidding war and set a new auction record for the Abstract Expressionist artist, surpassing the previous high of $61 million set in 2021. The winning bid was placed by a buyer represented by Christie’s global president Alex Rotter, with Swiss mega-dealer Iwan Wirth acting as an underbidder, possibly for collector Laurene Powell Jobs.
The sale underscores the enduring strength of the ultra-high-end art market, particularly for blue-chip postwar American works with impeccable provenance. The painting’s record price—among the highest ever at auction—reflects the scarcity of large-scale Pollock drip paintings in private hands and the premium placed on works from legendary collections like that of S. I. Newhouse, a longtime fixture on the ARTnews Top 200 collector list. The result also highlights Christie’s continued dominance in the trophy-art segment and the role of high-profile advisers like Tobias Meyer in shaping major estate sales.