Marilyn Monroe's lips by Andy Warhol sell for 40 times their estimate at auction

 

Nick Clark
Thursday 07 March 2013 13:36 GMT
Comments
I Love Your Kiss Forever Forever by Andy Warhol
I Love Your Kiss Forever Forever by Andy Warhol

The enthusiasm for work by Andy Warhol at auction continues undimmed as the first online-only sale of his work raised $2.3m, double the pre-sale estimate.

I Love Your Kiss Forever Forever, a lithograph that depicts Marilyn Monroe’s lips, proved the most lucrative of the Christie’s auction selling for $112,500, almost 40 times its estimate.

The auction attracted 65,000 visitors, which generated 1,500 bids. Among the other top sellers was New Coke, executed in 1985, which went for $93,750, and a self-portrait photograph that reached $35,000.

The works are part of a wider sale by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Its chairman Michael Straus said the online sale “has advanced both our philanthropic programmes and our work in keeping Andy’s legacy Alive”.

Foundation president Joel Wachs said the organisation would look to carry out more online auctions, following yesterday’s success. The next one will take place in April, and covers Warhol’s legacy at Studio 54 nightclub.

The Self-Portrait with Fright Wig screenprint on a t-shirt went for $47,000, while all the Warhol photographs, which represented almost half the lots, were sold.

Amy Cappellazzo, chairman of post-war and contemporary development at Christie’s, said the format saw bidders from 36 countries participate “most of who had never had access to a Warhol work before”.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in