Topline
A rare painting by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian sold for $51 million at auction late Monday night, fetching more than 20 times what the piece sold for last time it went to auction 40 years ago and setting a new record for the artist.
Sotheby's chairman Oliver Barker at the Modern Art Evening Auction on Monday.
Key Facts
“Composition No. II” was sold to an anonymous collector from Asia, Sotheby’s auction house said.
The painting fetched only $2.1 million the last time it appeared at auction in 1983, when it was sold to a Japanese collector in a sale that at the time set a record for the most valuable work by Mondrian to sell at auction.
The last time the painting went to auction, the art market was “vastly different and far less global and competitive” than today, Sotheby’s head of impressionist and modern art in New York Julian Dawes told Forbes before the sale.
Mondrian’s work in particular has seen a “tremendous” increase in auction value in the past 40 years, he said, as the artist’s reputation has grown as one of the European modernists who “fundamentally altered and forever expanded our perceptions of art.”
Big Number
$50.6 million. That was Mondrian’s previous auction record, set when “Composition No. III, with Red, Blue, Yellow, and Black” was auctioned off in 2015.
$50.6 million. That was Mondrian’s previous auction record, set when “Composition No. III, with Red, ... [+]
Key Background
The record-breaking Mondrian is among the high-profile works of art driving this auction season. Last week, art amassed by the late Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen sold for $1.6 billion, breaking the six-month-old record for most valuable art collection ever sold at auction. New York art auctions have continued to fetch sky-high prices over the past two weeks, despite uncertainties regarding a possible economic recession, the war in Ukraine and the midterm elections. While prices in the art market have exploded over the past few decades partially because of inflation, wealthy buyers also view high-dollar works as an investment that can hold value more consistently than other assets, as returns are largely independent from other market conditions or major asset classes.
Further Reading
Rare Piet Mondrian Painting Could Sell For More Than $50 Million (Forbes)
Most Expensive Art Auction Ever: Paul Allen’s Collection Fetches Record $1.6 Billion (Forbes)
Art Market Surpassed Pre-Pandemic Levels In 2021 With $65 Billion In Sales, Report Says (Forbes)
