Dora Akunyili’s daughter Njideka sets new auction record after her art sold for $1.1m

Late Dora Akunyili’s daughter, artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby, set a new record in New York last week when her work “Drown” soared to sell for $1,092,500.

The amount was over three times the high-estimate ($200,000-$300,000), in Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale.

According to reportsafrique, no fewer than 11 bidders competed for the work that was eventually sold to an anonymous buyer on the telephone.

This was the second time in less than two months that the auction record for Njideka Akunyili Crosby had been broken at Sotheby’s. The previous auction record for the artist was $93,750, set by her “Untitled” work from 2011 at Sotheby’s New York in September 2016.

“Drown” is said to be an intimate self-portrait of the artist with her husband, Justin.