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NEW YORK - A painting by artist Jackson Pollock has been sold for about US$140 million ($207 million), which would make it the highest price ever paid for a painting, The New York Times newspaper has reported.
Citing experts who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the Times reported that Hollywood mogul David Geffen had sold the painting No. 5, 1948 to Mexican financier David Martinez in a deal brokered by Sotheby's Tobias Meyer.
If the Pollock painting sale is confirmed, it would surpass the previous world record price paid for a painting, which was set in June when cosmetics magnate Ronald S. Lauder paid US$135 million for a 1907 portrait by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt.
Geffen, Martinez and Sotheby's were not immediately available for comment.
The Times described Martinez as a "megabuyer" of modern art who had purchased works by masters such as Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko in recent years.
No. 5, 1948 is about 4 by 8 feet and features Pollock's drip-and-pour style in a tangle of red, yellow and blue.
- REUTERS
