What Did Jackson Pollock Hope to Accomplish With This Dizzying Drip Painting, Which Just Sold for a Record-Breaking $181 Million?
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Jackson Pollock's painting Number 7A, 1948 has set a record by selling for $181.2 million at auction. This artwork is notable for its innovative drip painting technique, which Pollock developed during the peak of his career. The sale reflects both the high value of Pollock's work and the intense interest in Abstract Expressionism among collectors.
- ▪Number 7A, 1948 is now the most expensive work by Jackson Pollock ever auctioned.
- ▪The painting sold for $157 million, which totals $181.2 million with fees.
- ▪Pollock's drip painting technique emphasizes the physical movements of the artist during the creative process.
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What Did Jackson Pollock Hope to Accomplish With This Dizzying Drip Painting, Which Just Sold for a Record-Breaking $181 Million? The Abstract Expressionist is best known for his action paintings, which emphasized the movements of the artist’s body during the creative process. “Number 7A, 1948” is now his most expensive work ever auctioned Ellen Wexler | Writer and Special Projects Editor May 22, 2026 3:51 p.m. ShareCopy linkEmailSMSFacebookXRedditLinkedInBlueskyPrintAdd as preferred source A detail from Jackson Pollock's Number 7A, 1948 Christie's Jackson Pollock stretched an 11-foot-long canvas across the floor of his barn on Long Island. His process would not involve careful brush strokes—or even an easel.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Smithsonian Magazine.
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