Andy Warhol's
turquoise-background Elizabeth Taylor portrait sold for
$23.7 million Tuesday at Christie's auction house, a
spokeswoman said.
An anonymous
bidder bought the portrait, Liz (Colored Liz),
from a private collector. The sale price, which
included the auction house's commission, fell below presale
estimates of $25 million to $35 million.
The 40-by-40-inch
portrait is part of a series Warhol created in the
1960s of his muses, including Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, and
Jackie Kennedy.
Warhol completed
Liz (Colored Liz) in 1963 about the same
time Taylor suffered from a life-threatening illness. The
painting is one of a series of a dozen and features a
turquoise background and colorful eye shadow, violet
eyes, and red lipstick.
Also as part of
Christie's art sale, Diamond (Blue), a
sculpture from Jeff Koons's 1994-2005
Celebration series, was sold to the Gagosian
Gallery for $11.8 million, Christie's spokeswoman Milena
Sales said. Its presale estimate was $12 million.
The top seller at
the auction was Mark Rothko's 1995 Untitled (Red, Blue,
Orange), which was sold to an anonymous bidder for
$34.2 million, slightly higher than its pre-auction
estimate. (AP)
