NEW YORK, May 17, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - The famed Macklowe collection, subject of

a bitter divorce battle between a New York property developer and his ex-
wife, became the most expensive art collection ever sold at auction Monday.

Sotheby's sold its second offering of works from the collection for $246.1
million, bringing the total value of the group of paintings to $922.2
million, a spokesman told AFP.

That exceeds the $835.1 million that the Rockefeller collection sold for in
2018, then the highest total ever made by a single private collection at
auction.

Among the highlights of Monday evening's sale were Mark Rothko's "Untitled,"
which fetched $48 million and Gerhard Richter's "Seest?ck"", which went for
$30.2 million.

Andy Warhol's "Self Portrait" sold for $18.7 million while Willem de
Kooning's "Untitled" went for $17.8 million.

Sotheby's won the rights to sell the Macklowe works back in September. It
sold 35 of the pieces in November for $676.1 million before selling the
remaining 30 on Monday.

Sotheby's had described the paintings as the "most significant collection of
modern and contemporary art to ever appear on the market."

During divorce proceedings, Harry Macklowe and his ex-wife Linda had been
unable to agree on how much the vast collection was worth.

A New York judge ruled in 2018 that the they should sell all 65 works and
split the profits.