Christie’s generated $1.1 billion in back-to-back evening sales on May 18, driven by record-breaking prices for major artworks. The top lot was Jackson Pollock’s 1948 drip painting *Number 7A*, which sold for $181.2 million with fees, tripling the artist’s previous auction record. Other highlights included Constantin Brancusi’s *Danaïde* (ca. 1913) at $107.6 million, Mark Rothko’s *No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe)* (1964) at $98.4 million, and Alice Neel’s *Mother and Child (Nancy and Olivia)* (1967) at $5.7 million. The sales featured works from the collections of S. I. Newhouse and Agnes Gund.
The sale underscores the enduring strength of the ultra-high-end art market, where museum-quality works with strong provenance continue to command extraordinary prices despite broader economic uncertainties. The record results for Pollock, Brancusi, Rothko, and Neel demonstrate that blue-chip masterpieces can attract fierce bidding competition, reinforcing the market’s reliance on trophy assets. The event also highlights the ongoing influence of major collectors’ estates in shaping auction dynamics.