Afternoon:
15°c
Andy Warhol's Elizabeth Taylor portrait sells for £6.7m
John Shaw1 Jul 2010
A portrait of Elizabeth Taylor by Andy Warhol, one of only two by the artist to feature her famous violet-coloured eyes, sold for £6.7million at Christie's in London.
Silver Liz was bought anonymously last night in a prestige sale of contemporary art. It was painted in 1963, the year she became the first $1 million actress for her role opposite Richard Burton in the ill-fated epic Cleopatra.
The picture, which had been unseen for 20 years, combined Warhol's obsession with celebrity and the early development of his now well-known silkscreen printing process.
It was the most expensive item of the evening and was followed some way down by Loopy, a collage by Jeff Koons of a cartoon rabbit with whipped cream and a cherry. The image made £3.4 million.
A total of 63 works of art were on offer, 53 of which sold for an overall total of £45.6 million.
