Andy Warhol’s Self-Portrait
A 1986 self-portrait by Andy Warhol that was among the last of his paintings to be exhibited while he was alive is heading for the auction block, where it is estimated to sell for up to $40 million.
Painted with acrylic and silkscreen on canvas, this is one of the of two 9-foot red-on-black self-portraits, which first came up at London’s Anthony d’Offay Gallery, in 1986, six months before Warhol died.
It is a rare event that a work of this grandeur and stature comes to market, said Amy Cappellazzo of Christie’s. With all the other examples in museums, it will be the last chance that buyers will have to bid on a work that shifted art history.
The current record price for a Warhol self-portrait is $32.6 million set last May in Sotheby’s in New York. The auction record for a Warhol is $71.7 million, for Green Car Crash. [Christie’s]
