There was a new auction record for Piet Mondrian at Sotheby’s Modern evening auction in New York last night when an iconic abstract painting – Composition No. II – made $51 million. Made by the Dutch artist in 1930 it was last auctioned in 1982 when it sold for a then record of $2.15 million. This time around it was sold to a collector in Asia.
Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s chairman, Europe said: “There are few artists who have staked such an audacious claim in the history of Modern art as Piet Mondrian, whose grid-style of abstract painting is a truly singular achievement in painting history.”