Paul Allen Sells Newman’s Onement VI

It’s guaranteed and has an estimate that tops out nearly twice the price of its recently sold predecessor but one of Barnett Newman’s abstract expressionist works is about to come up for sale at Sotheby’s this May, according to Carol Vogel in the New York Times:

Officials at Sotheby’s declined to identify who is selling “Onement VI,” but dealers say it is from the collection of Paul Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft who bought it privately in 2000.

Some people who have seen the painting say that it has had some conservation challenges. Years ago something spilled on its surface, which has since undergone restoration.

“Several conservators have seen it and said it is in good condition,” said Tobias Meyer, who runs Sotheby’s department of contemporary art worldwide. “It is unlined and on its original stretcher.”

Outsized Barnett Newman with His Signature Zip (Inside Art/New York Times)