A Jackson Pollock artwork, described as one of history’s “first truly abstract paintings”, has sold at auction for $181m (£135m) in New York.

Number 7A, 1948, which went under the hammer at the renowned Christie’s auction house on Monday, smashed the previous record for the most a work by the late American artist has taken at auction.

The painting, which came from the private collection of media magnate SI Newhouse, is also now the fourth most expensive artwork ever sold at auction, according to ARTnews.

Also in the collection was a bronze sculpture by Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi, which sold for $107.6m – the second highest amount a sculpture has ever gone for at auction.

Pollock, who died in 1956, was a major figure in the abstract expressionist art movement. His drip painting technique is one the art world’s most recognisable and often imitated.

The previous auction record for one of Pollock’s artworks was $61.2m for his Number 17, 1951 painting, which was sold in 2021. Other pieces have sold for higher prices in private sales.

Christie’s called Number 7A, 1948, which depicts black drips of paint with touches of red on a huge canvas spanning more than three metres, a key piece of art history.

“It is with this work that Pollock finally frees himself from the shackles of conventional easel painting and produces one of the first truly abstract paintings in the history of art,” it wrote in its description of the piece online.

Other artworks sold at the Christie’s auction included pieces by Mark Rothko and Joan Miro, which also both broke previous records for works by the artists at auction.

[BBC]

An escaped tiger believed to be owned by Germany’s “Tiger Queen” has been shot dead by police after attacking one of its keepers.

Police told the BBC a 72-year-old man was seriously injured after being attacked on Sunday while he was inside the animal’s enclosure, located in a privately-owned facility on the outskirts of the German city of Leipzig.

The tiger escaped the enclosure and was found shortly after by armed police, who shot and killed the animal.

The site of the enclosure is believed to be owned by controversial trainer and private owner Carmen Zander, who describes herself as Germany’s “Tiger Queen”.

The animal was one of eight big cats kept at the industrial site near the German town of Schkeuditz, according to local media.

In a statement to the BBC, police said officers shot the animal, a male tiger, to eliminate any further risk to the public.

It added that the local police department received the emergency call at around 12:50 local time (11:50 BST) on Sunday, with officers arriving at the scene quickly.

A spokesperson said how the tiger escaped is part of an ongoing investigation.

No other animals have escaped from the site and police have planned a drone search to ensure it is fully secure.

District Mayor Thomas Druskat called for the other animals to be relocated and told local media it was “unthinkable” what could have happened if anyone else had been harmed.

Nearby residents told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) that the incident was “terrible and worrying”, with one claiming the animals were not kept in appropriate conditions.

Animal rights charity Peta called on the government to act, telling DPA that stricter rules needed to be put in place to protect privately-owned animals.

According to a website using Zander’s name and nickname, the trainer holds “unforgettable” and “one-of-a-kind” tiger petting events open to the public.

The website says visitors can pay to pet the “250kg powerhouses” at a site near Leipzig.

Another section of the website features the pictures of eight tigers – three which appear to have died in the last nine years. The tigers include 190kg Kiara, 20-year-old Aschanti, and two-year-old cub Imana.

Social media posts appearing to be from the trainer show several pictures of the tigers playing in the enclosures.

It also says the tigers are looked after and kept healthy in an animal-friendly environment.

The BBC has reached out to Zander for comment.

[BBC]

A rescue diver has died while searching for the bodies of a group of Italians who died in a scuba-diving accident in the Maldives.

Staff Sgt Mohamed Mahdhee was taken to hospital in critical condition and later succumbed to his injuries, a government spokesman told the BBC on Saturday.

Five Italians died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of around 50m (164ft) on Thursday. So far, the body of one of them is thought to have been recovered, in a cave at a depth of around 60m (197ft).

The incident is believed to be the worst single diving accident in the tiny Indian Ocean nation, a popular tourist destination because of its string of coral islands.

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu travelled to Vaavu Atoll on Saturday to observe the search operations.

“Eight rescue divers went into the water today. When they surfaced, they realised  Mahdhee didn’t come up,” Mohamed Hossain Shareef, a Maldivian government spokesman told the BBC.

The other divers immediately went into the water again and they found Mahdhee had blacked out.

The Maldives military has described the operation as very high risk, with unfavourable weather conditions.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani sent condolences: “These days of grief for Italy are compounded by the news that one of your brave soldiers… died while attempting to dive to reach the bodies of our fellow Italians.”

“This tragedy unites Italy and the Maldives in grief and respect for the victims,” he added.

Four of the Italian divers were part of a University of Genoa team, including professor of ecology Monica Montefalcone, her daughter and two researchers. The fifth was a boat operations manager and diving instructor.

The five entered the water at Vaavu Atoll on Thursday morning, local media said, and were reported missing when they failed to resurface later on.

Police said the weather was rough in the area, about 100km (62 miles) south of the capital, Male. A yellow warning was issued for passenger boats and fishermen.

Shareef said recreational scuba divers were only allowed to dive up to a depth of 30m and it was not clear why the Italians went into a cave that’s 60m under water.

Italy’s foreign ministry said earlier that another 20 Italian nationals aboard the Duke of York yacht, from which the five divers took off, were unharmed and receiving assistance from the Embassy of Italy in Colombo, Sri Lanka

[BBC]