Sotheby's Failed $50M Private Auction of Jackson Pollock Painting

Sotheby's attempted to quietly sell Jackson Pollock's "Number 19, 1951" for $50 million in a private auction at its Breuer Building headquarters on June 2, but the sale fell through due to lack of bidders. The painting, owned by Pace Gallery founder Arne Glimcher, was offered with unusual secrecy, with security blocking access to the second floor and senior staff kept in the dark. Sotheby's flew in star auctioneer Oliver Barker from London to conduct the sale, and he recorded a video for prospective buyers. However, the auction house could not find enough bidders, and the painting's fate remains unclear—whether it was returned to Glimcher, sold privately, or remains with Sotheby's. The attempted sale was reportedly Sotheby's first serious private auction, a format Christie's has developed since the pandemic for high-value works. The $50 million asking price was considered optimistic by some, especially after S.I. Newhouse's Pollock sold for $181.2 million at Christie's three weeks earlier. The painting had been exhibited at MoMA's 1999 Pollock retrospective and at Tate Liverpool and Dallas Museum of Art. The failed sale came two days before Marc Glimcher, Arne's son and Pace's CEO, announced plans to cut staff by 20% and reduce the artist roster by nearly a third.