Jackson Pollock - No. 5, 1948
240x120cm oil on fiberboard
Sold for: USD 140 million
Auction house: Private sale via Sotheby's
Sale date: November 2, 2006
Seller: David Geffen
Buyer: David Martinez
The painting was created on fibreboard, also known as composition board, measuring 8’ x 4’. For the paint, Pollock chose to use liquid paints. More specifically, they were synthetic resin paints (gloss enamel) but are referred to as oil paints for classification of the work. On inspection it was grey, brown, white and yellow paint drizzled in a way that many people still perceive as a "dense bird’s nest". Initial reactions to the work by the uninitiated were underwhelming:
You spent money on that? The initial reaction of Ted Dragon, Ossorio's partner