A very expensive divorce, over $650M raised.
In New York, paintings and sculptures by well-known artists such as Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock were auctioned off. On Monday, the collection was auctioned off for more than $676 million (£503 million). Harry Macklowe, a real estate billionaire, and his previous wife Linda owned the 35 pieces. During their 2018 divorce trial, the couple was told to sell the collection and share the revenues.
Joseph Mwabili001 
Next year, another 35 works of art will be auctioned off. The paintings on display included "No 7," a painting by Mark Rothko that sold for $82.5 million, the artist's second-highest price for a work.
The buyer's identity is unknown, although Reuters reports that there was heated competition among people representing Asian clientele. Jackson Pollock's "Number 17, 1951" sold for $61.2 million.
Andy Warhol's silkscreen "Nine Marilyn's," created shortly after the actress Marilyn Monroe's death, sold for $48.5 million. The collection was valued at $400 million and had already traveled to Taipei, Hong Kong, Paris, and London before returning to New York.
Linda Macklowe was the principal collector, according to art dealer Andrew Fabricant, who sold her many of the pieces that went up for auction on Monday.
"Every piece in here is nuanced and one-of-a-kind," he remarked.
After 59 years of marriage, the couple was granted a divorce last year. Because the two parties could not agree on the value of the artworks, a judge appointed an administrator to oversee the sale of the artifacts.
