The Word Painting That Set Christopher Wool's Auction Record

Christopher Wool's Untitled (RIOT) (1990) sold for $29.93m at Sotheby's in New York on May 12, 2015. The enamel on aluminium work had been traded once in the past.

The artist's record-breaking word painting features his signature technique: large black letters placed vertically over one another and stenciled upon a smooth white background.

In 1987, while walking New York's the Lower East Side, Wool spotted a new white truck that had already been tagged with the words “SEX LUV”. He was so impressed with the anonymous graffiti on the vehicle that he returned to his studio to create his own painted version.

The artist has described how the words on his typically untitled works not intended as slogans or statements but rather as images in themselves.

Untitled (RIOT) has been shown in museum exhibitions in the US and Europe, most recently at Los Angeles MoCA in 1998 for the artist's survey show that traveled to Pittsburgh.

The sale beat Wool’s previous auction record by $3.44m, a 13% rise. The previous record was set by Apocalypse Now (1988), which sold for $26.48m at Christie's on November 12, 2013. The work had been traded 9 times in the past.

A Brief History of Christopher Wool at Auction