On May 8, 2012, it was sold at Christie's from the estate of David Pincus for $86,882,500,[1] a record nominal price for post-war contemporary art at public auction.

The work was acquired by Marlborough Fine Art in London from the Marlborough-Gerson gallery in New York.

From June to December 1996 it was exhibited by the Palmer Museum of Art at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania for their "Abstraction to Figuration: Selections of Contemporary Art from the Pincus Collection" exhibition.

The price for Rothko's painting was expected to top out near $45 million based on presale estimates.

"[2] Souren Melikian of The New York Times described Rothko's Orange, Red, Yellow as one that "...can convincingly be argued to be the most powerful of all his pictures",[2] Kelly Crow of The Wall Street Journal stated that "The painting's trio of orange and yellow rectangles bobbing atop a cherry-red background forms a palette that's as eye-catching as a sunset or a Popsicle," noting that "Auction specialists say collectors historically pay more for works that are red and gold, as opposed to gray.