Sotheby's graced Los Angeles with some of the stars of the auction house's forthcoming contemporary art sale. Highlights include works by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Alexander Calder. Lichtenstein's "Sleeping Girl" is up for grabs and expected to fetch a hammer price of between 30 and 40 million U.S. dollars.
The pop artist is largely known for his comic strip style paintings, often featuring women, says Sotheby's head of contemporary art, Tobias Meyer. He says, "One always talks about the Lichtenstein girls and that's why this painting is so important. It's also from the early 60s, which is his most important period of work where he really broke out into the world with his pop language that made him so famous."
Another sale gem is a picture of Elvis Presley by Andy Warhol, entitled "Double Elvis". Created from silkscreen ink and spray paint on canvas, the work is estimated to sell between 30 and 50 million U.S. dollars. Meyer says Warhol's "Elvis" pieces are extremely rare at auction, as most are owned by museums or private collectors, "Elvis was a series of paintings that Andy created in 1962. He was obsessed with Elvis and he obsessed with stars. He painted Marilyn, he painted Liz, he painted Jackie, but Elvis was really, I think, the one that he identified with."
Other featured artists include Joan Miro and Pablo Picasso.
Sotheby's contemporary sale will be held in New York City on May 9th.
Reuters
