El uso del punto rojo en galerías de arte se remonta a la década de 1960, cuando el mercado de arte contemporáneo comenzó a crecer y se hizo necesario encontrar un sistema para indicar cuáles obras de arte estaban disponibles para la venta y cuáles ya habían sido vendidas. Desde entonces, el punto rojo se ha convertido en un símbolo universalmente reconocido en galerías de arte de todo el mundo.
It is known that some of the earliest art galleries to adopt the use of the red dot to indicate that a piece of artwork had been sold were the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York and the Marlborough Gallery in London. These galleries were at the forefront of the contemporary art market in the 1950s and helped establish the standards and practices that are used today in art galleries around the world.
As the contemporary art market grew and expanded in the 1960s and 1970s, the use of the red dot became a common practice in art galleries worldwide. Today, the symbol is universally used to indicate that a piece of artwork has been sold and helps gallery visitors understand which pieces are available for purchase.
An example of a contemporary artist whose life changed after a red dot was placed on an artwork is American painter and sculptor Jeff Koons. In 1991, Koons presented a series of artworks in an exhibition at the Sonnabend Gallery in New York, including a stainless steel sculpture of a dog called “Balloon Dog”. The artwork was a great success and sold for a record-breaking sum of $5 million at the time.
The sale of “Balloon Dog” was a turning point in Koons’ career, making him one of the most successful and recognized artists in the contemporary art world. The artwork has become an icon of pop art and has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions and museums around the world.
The red dot on the label of “Balloon Dog” at the Sonnabend exhibition indicated that the artwork had been sold, which caused a great stir in the art world. The sale of the artwork for such a high sum was seen as a symbol of the growing power and value of the contemporary art market, and Koons became an example of how success in the art world can change an artist’s life.
A well-known artwork from the 1960s that is often associated with the use of the red dot in art galleries is “Orange and Yellow” by Mark Rothko.
“Orange and Yellow” is a large abstract painting consisting of two blocks of intense orange and yellow color against a white background. The artwork was created in 1956 and was exhibited in various exhibitions during the 1960s, including one at the Marlborough Gallery in New York in 1963.
During the exhibition at the Marlborough Gallery, “Orange and Yellow” had a red dot on its label, indicating that the artwork had already been sold. The sale of the artwork for a considerable amount made it famous and helped to establish Rothko’s reputation as one of the most important artists of his generation.
Since then, “Orange and Yellow” has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions and museums around the world and has been considered one of the most important and influential works of the Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1950s. The red dot on the label of the artwork at the Marlborough Gallery exhibition in 1963 is an early example of the use of the symbol to indicate that an artwork has been sold and has helped make “Orange and Yellow” an iconic artwork of the 20th century.
ES 
EN 