Linda and Harry Macklowe's art collection put up for auction due to their divorce brought in around $ 700 million gross in New York.
Sotheby's announced on Tuesday that it was the auction with the highest total value in the history of the auction house. The most expensive piece was the painting “No. 7 ”by the American artist Mark Rothko (1903-1970), which was sold for around $ 82.5 million with a premium. The sculpture “Le Nez” by the Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) brought in around 78.4 million dollars. Around 35 other works were auctioned for double-digit million amounts, so that a total of over 676 million dollars were achieved.
Linda and Harry Macklowe were married for nearly sixty years.
The New York real estate mogul and the art expert argued long and bitterly in court about the details of their divorce.
A judge eventually ordered that the couple's art collection - dozens of modern and contemporary masterpieces acquired over decades - for the most part must be sold because the couple could not reach an agreement on the value of the collection.
The first part of the collection was now the final highlight of the traditional New York autumn auctions, the second part is to be auctioned at Sotheby's next year.
Meanwhile, competitor Christie's announced that it had auctioned art worth more than one billion dollars in the fall auctions.