Two iconic Andy Warhol paintings of Elvis Presley and Marlon Brando sold for more than $151 million at auction in New York



Extremely rare portraits by Andy Warhol of Hollywood superstars Elvis Presley and Marlon Brando were among the highlights at a record-breaking auction of postwar and contemporary art.
Warhol’s “Triple Elvis (Ferus Type)” sold for $81.9 million and “Four Marlons” brought in $69.6 million on Wednesday 12th November, 2014 at Christie’s New York, which meant the evening sale realised $852.9 million, the highest total for any auction.
Works by Willem de Kooning and Cy Twombly also broke auction records for the artists.
“Triple Elvis” and “Four Marlons” rate among Warhol’s most famous portraits. The nearly 7-foot-high portraits were acquired by German casino company WestSpiel in the 1970s for one of its casinos.
The Elvis, executed in ink and silver paint in 1963, depicts the rock ‘n’ roll heartthrob as a cowboy, armed and shooting from the hip. The Brando silkscreen, created three years later, shows the actor on a motorcycle in a black leather jacket, an image that is repeated four times.ﾠ
Warhol produced a series of 22 images of Elvis. His “Double Elvis (Ferus Type)” sold for $37 million at Sotheby’s in 2012.
Last fall, his “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)” set an auction record for his work when it sold at Sotheby’s for $105.4 million.
There’s only one other four-times Brando, in the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen. A “Double Marlon” sold at Christie’s for $32.5 million in 2008.
De Kooning’s “Clamdigger,” a life-size sculpture created in 1972, sold for $29.2 million, a world auction record for a sculpture by the artist. The bronze sculpture never left the artist, and it stood in the entry of his studio on eastern Long Island for about four decades.
The inspiration for it came from the clam diggers the abstract expressionist artist observed on the beach every day.
“Clamdiggers” was offered for sale by the daughters of Lisa de Kooning, who inherited the sculpture from her father when he died in 1997. She died in 2012.
The auction record for any work by de Kooning is $32.1 million for “Untitled VIII,” set last year at Christie’s.
Twombly’s “Untitled,” one of the famous series of “Blackboard” paintings he made between 1966 and 1971, brought in $69.6 million, a world auction record for his work. With their spiraling lines on a dark gray background, the paintings were so-named because they resembled the slate of classroom blackboard.
An oversized sculpture of a monkey by the popular artist Jeff Koons was another auction highlight.
Koons’ whimsical stainless steel “Balloon Monkey (Orange)” fetched $25.9 million. Measuring nearly 12 feet (3.6 meters) high and 20 feet (6 meters) long, it looks like an inflated twisted balloon.
Koons became the most expensive living artist in 2013 when his “Balloon Dog (Orange)” was auctioned for $58.4 million.

Source: https://artnigeria.com/2016/04/11/the-highest-total-sale-at-any-art-auction/

Nigerians will make that kinda sale soon

ow, I would like to participate at art auction

sounds amazing!

PatrikStacy:
Oh my god, I'm just in shock. I also really love and appreciate contemporary art, but in my opinion $ 151 million is just an inadequate price. I often visit auctions and, to be honest, I have never met such prices before. This is really very surprising to me. I don't know why the prices for paintings have grown so much and I can't even imagine who is willing to pay that kind of money for a painting ... I personally often go to auctions in the fine art auction houses and there are excellent paintings and prices are much more affordable and I have never come across with such unrealistic prices.

Is there something more I should know before the purchase?