Works By Rothko, Lichtenstein Bring In Over $88 Million At Sotheby's Auction

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Major works by Mark Rothko and Roy Lichtenstein brought in over $88 million at a Sotheby's auction of contemporary art on the Upper East Side.

Rothko's ``Untitled (Yellow and Blue)'' fetched $46.4 million Tuesday night. The 8-foot-tall abstract painting of large yellow and blue planes, created in 1954, once hung at the National Gallery in Washington for 10 years.

Lichtenstein's ``The Ring (Engagement)'' garnered $41.7 million. The 1962 work was sold by philanthropist Stefan Edlis. Last month, the Art Institute of Chicago announced Edlis was donating a group of 42 pop and contemporary artworks valued at about $40 million.

The current Rothko auction record is nearly $87 million. Lichtenstein's is $56 million.

The Sotheby's auction came a day after Pablo Picasso's "Women of Algiers (Version O)'' set a world record for artwork at auction at Christie's at Rockefeller Plaza, selling for nearly $179.4 million.

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