Warhol's Green Car Crash sells for record $72M US
Confident art market snaps up modern works
Last Updated: Thursday, May 17, 2007 | 10:59 AM ET
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Andy Warhol's green image of a fatal car crash sold for a record $72 million US Wednesday at Christie's auction of postwar and contemporary art in New York.
It was the second record-setting day in sales of postwar art, with a Mark Rothko selling for close to $73 million US on Tuesday at Sotheby's.
Andy Warhol's Lemon Marilyn, an acrylic and silkscreen on linen, sold Wednesday for $28 million US.
(Christies Images/Associated Press)
An anonymous buyer bought Warhol's Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I) for $71.7 million, more than quadruple the previous top auction price for a Warhol.
Last November, Warhol's Mao sold for $17.4 million US, setting the previous record for the pop artist.
Green Car Crash uses a news photograph of a grisly car crash, silkscreened in green. It was part of a series Warhol printed based on deadly crashes.
Another Warhol, Lemon Marilyn, an iconic image of Marilyn Monroe, sold for $28 million US.
Christies reported several records were set for individual artists during the Wednesday auction.
A canvas by American contemporary artist Jasper Johns, Figure 4, sold for $17.4 million US; Khorkom by Armenian-American expressionist painter Arshile Gorky sold for about $4.2 million US; and a photograph by Cindy Sherman, Untitled No. 92, sold for $2.1 million US.
The auction itself took in a total of nearly $385 million US, making it the second most lucrative art auction ever held.
Marc Porter, president of Christie's Americas, said the phenomenal results of the past two weeks reflect confidence in the art market and the economy.
"The art market is strong at all levels, whether it's a $20,000 or a $5-million work," he told Reuters.
"Buying and consumption are based on wealth, and people just feel very confident."
With files from the Associated PressShare Tools
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