NEW YORK (AP) β Major works by Mark Rothko and Roy Lichtenstein (LIHK’-tehn-styn) brought in over $88 million at a Sotheby’s auction of contemporary art in New York.
Rothko’s “Untitled (Yellow and Blue)” fetched $46.4 million Tuesday night. The 8-foot-tall abstract painting of large yellow and blue planes once hung at the National Gallery in Washington for 10 years.
Lichtenstein’s “The Ring (Engagement)” garnered $41.7 million. The 1962 work was sold by philanthropist Stefan Edlis. Last month, the Art Institute of Chicago announced Edlis was donating a group of 42 pop and contemporary artworks valued at about $40 million.
The current Rothko auction record is nearly $87 million. Lichtenstein’s is $56 million.
