Andy Warhol silkscreen of Elvis fetches a whopping $81.9 million

By Staff Reporter - 14 Nov '14 02:07AM

"Triple Elvis," a 1963 Andy Warhol silkscreen depicting the king of rock 'n' roll in triplicate, sold for $81.9 million at an auction of postwar and contemporary art at Christie's in New York on Wednesday.

The striking seven-foot tall work, derived from a publicity still for the 1960 Don Siegel-directed Western 'Flaming Star,' had been estimated to fetch $60 million.

The final sale price topped out at more than $20 million above the estimate after six minutes of frenzied bidding. It was a similar story for the other Warhol classic sold Wednesday, 'Four Marlons,' a giant set of four images of the legendary actor taken from his 1953 motorcycle gang classic 'The Wild One.'

Both of Wednesday's auction prices however were well short of the all-time record for a Warhol work set by 'Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster),' which fetched $105.4 million in November last year at Sotheby's.

Christie's sale comes in the middle of the second week of the fall auction season in Manhattan that has the potential to become a record if high prices continue.

Another Warhol piece also stoked buyer interest. "Four Marlons," which shows actor Marlon Brando from the movie "The Wild One," sold for $69.6 million, the second highest amount of the evening. A Cy Twombly canvas "Untitled" from 1970 sold for nearly the same amount.

The other big sellers on Wednesday included a Bacon canvas from 1960 that fetched $45 million, which was at the low end of estimates, and a Richter painting that sold for $31.5 million, slightly beating estimates.

Several world records were set for masterpieces sold on Wednesday, including $30.4 million raised for 'Smash' by Ed Ruscha, regarded as one of the leading lights of the American pop-art movement.