Jackson Pollock’s West Village Pad on Sale for $1.25 Million

The apartment at 46 Carmine Street formerly owned by Jackson Pollock. Courtesy Douglas Elliman.

Jackson Pollock’s former Greenwich Village apartment is up for sale for $1.25 million. The 800-square-foot penthouse located at 46 Carmine Street—very convenient to the historic Cedar Tavern, where Pollock and the Ab Ex crew hung out—has 14-foot Tudor-style ceilings, a working fireplace, and “Pirelli floors,” which we assume means they’re great for laying large canvases on to make drip paintings.

What makes it interesting to Luis Ortiz, the Douglas Elliman broker who has the listing, is the address. “For Jackson Pollock, 46 was a magical number,” Ortiz told artnet News. “As for its interpretation, there are many of them.” One, he said, was connected with hermaphroditism. The subject is reported to have influenced the artist’s 1942 figurative paintings such as Male and Female.

As far as the artist’s penchant for the number, there seems to be some truth to it, at least as far as apartment buildings go. In 1935, just after moving to New York City, Pollock lived in a place at 46 East 8th Street, first with his brother Sande, and later with Lee Krasner. At that time, Pollock was paying only $35 per month.

The apartment on Carmine street was up for sale two years ago, when it was on the market for $1.4 million. The owner decided not to sell it at that time but rented it out instead for something in the range of $5,600–5,700 per month. Despite its heritage, the place is probably outside the price range most artists can afford. But perhaps it’s a suitable trophy or piece of nostalgia for a collector looking for culturally interesting buildings to scoop up, a la Leon Black (see “Why Did Leon Black Pay $50 Million for Former Knoedler Space?“) or Peter Brant (see “Peter Brant Paid $27 Million for Walter De Maria’s Old Studio“). Considering that it’s prime West Village, though, it’s a relative bargain.


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