Warhol artwork sells for record $105m
An Andy Warhol piece sold at a New York City auction has set a sales record for works by the famed pop artist.
Sotheby’s said 'Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)' sold for $105m (€78.1m), including the buyer’s premium.
It had been expected to fetch up to $80m (€59.5m).
The buyer was not immediately identified.
The 8ft by 13ft work captures the immediate aftermath of a car crash and depicts a twisted body sprawled across a car’s mangled interior.
The 1963 piece has only been seen in public once in the past 26 years.
The previous Warhol auction record was $71.7m (€53.4m), set in 2007.
The sale comes a day after the record was broken for art sold at auction with a Francis Bacon triptych that went for $142.4m (€106m).
The previous Warhol record was for 'Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)'.
Photo: “Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)" 1963 synthetic polymer, silkscreen ink and acrylic on linen... http://t.co/Q3ECjz2vrz
— BS ART (@BSARTBSART) July 31, 2013
Another Warhol, 'Coca-Cola (3)', sold for $57.2m (€42.7m) on Tuesday at Christie's auction house.
Over the past 10 days, auction houses around the world have presided over bids totalling nearly 2bn (€1.48bn) for art and jewellery, Sotheby’s said.
Christie’s said Tuesday’s sale brought in more than $691.5m (€514.6m), the highest total for any single auction in history.
Buyers from Asia, the Middle East and Russia play a big role in the contemporary art market, said Richard Feigen, an art dealer and collector whose Manhattan gallery has works spanning from the 14th century to contemporary art.
“The demand for seminal works by historical important artists is truly unquestionable, and we will keep witnessing new records being broken,” added Michael Frahm, a contemporary art adviser and partner at the London-based Frahm.
“This is the ultimate trophy hunting.”
