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03/29/2024 12:50:04 am

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Warhol's Elvis And Brando Works Fetch $151.5 Million At Record-Shattering Auction

Warhol's works.

(Photo : Christie's via Bloomberg)

Andi Warhol's multiple images of Elvis Presley and Marlon Brando starred in Christie's auction, selling $151 million, in an event hailed as the biggest-grossing day in the history of the auction house.

Christie's just wrapped up what can be considered as the biggest art auction in history Wednesday, selling a whopping $853 million worth of contemporary and post-war art.

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Andy Warhol's masterpiece, multiple images of Elvis Presley and Marlon Brando, caught the attention of bidders.

Warhol's work and many more trumped Christie's high pre-sale estimate of $836 million.

This has been the fourth consecutive auction since May 2013 that the auction house's post-war and contemporary sale shattered past records, surpassing previous sales.

Warhol's "Triple Elvis (Ferus Type)" was heavily battled by art enthusiasts, which eventually fetched $81.9 million.

Meanwhile, "Four Marlons" was sold for $69.6 million, paving the sale of 80 more works in the salesroom.

Only five works were not purchased.

Christie's had earlier pegged that the silkscreen-on-linen Warhols would fetch a combined $130 million. However, the estimates proved conservative and the auction house actually earned even more.

The record shattering sales only served to prove that the market for works of art is definitely stable.

Sandra Nedvetskaia, director of the contemporary art fair Cosmoscow and the former director of Christie's Russia noted: "There were so many international bidders."

Over 500 registered bidders from 40-plus countries headed to the auction at Christie's, Brett Gorvy, Christie's chairman and international head of postwar and contemporary art revealed.

Likewise, more than 10,000 visitors came to Christie's Rockefeller Center galleries weeks prior to the sale.

Three masterpieces, each fetched above $50 million, 23 each sold $10 million, and 69 above $1 million.

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