An untitled painting by Norman Lewis has realised $965,000 in a sale of African American art at Swann Auction Galleries.

It was the star lot of the December 15 sale in New York and sets a new record for Lewis' work at auction.

His previous high mark was $581,000, set for another untitled work at Swann in 2013.

Lewis was a contemporary of the New York abstract expressionists such as Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock.

This Norman Lewis work almost doubled his previous record

He began his career painting in a social realist style before moving on to more abstract territory.

Swann explains: "Norman Lewis's large Untitled, oil on canvas, circa 1958, is a recently re-discovered and important painting.

"A masterful mid-century composition that has never been publicly exhibited, it reveals yet another dimension to his late 1950s body of abstraction-a series of larger canvases that he painted after a trip to Europe and North Africa in 1957.

"In this painting, Lewis continues his investigation of the "ritual" calligraphic figures while moving further toward color field painting."

Barkley L Hendricks' Tuff Tony (1978) was another highlight, achieving $365,000.

The painting was produced as part of Hedricks' "white on white series", which juxtaposes white clad figures against white backgrounds.

It matches his current record, achieved by Steve (1976) - another work from the series.  

Please sign up to our free newsletter to receive exciting news about art and photography auctions.