Warhol's Statue of Liberty auctions for $43.8m at Christie's

Andy Warhol's 3-D work Statue of Liberty has shone during an evening of standout performances at Christie's record-breaking Post-War and Contemporary Art sale in New York.

The 1962 work, part of Warhol's Death and Disaster series, sold for $43.8m on November 14. The highest price for a Warhol work remains 1963's Green car crash - Green burning car I, which made $71.7m in May 2007.

Warhol Statue of Liberty
Warhol's iconic Statue of Liberty continues the artist's strong auction showing of late

Statue of Liberty beat its $35m valuation by 25.1% - a testament to its hugely iconic nature.

One of Warhol's famed depictions of Marlon Brando also performed above expectations yesterday, selling for $23.7m against a $20m estimate.

It had last auctioned for $5m in 2003, representing an 18.9% pa rise in value.

The results are further confirmation of the artist's booming popularity on the art market. You can get a slice of the action today through Paul Fraser Collectibles.

Marlon Brando Warhol
Warhol's Marlon depiction has seen an 18.9% pa rise in value since 2003

The auction witnessed eight new artist auction records in all, including new high marks for Jean-Michel Basquiat and Franz Kline. It accrued $412.3m in total - the highest achieved at one of its Post-War and Contemporary Art auctions.

Brett Gorvy, Christie's deputy chairman and international head of post-war and contemporary art, commented: "We curated the sale around a rich variety of the highest quality works and most coveted artists in order to serve our broad international base of collectors in their quest to find the next iconic work, whether it is pop art, abstract expressionism, or cutting-edge contemporary."

The strong performance across the board, allied with the record breaking event at Sotheby's the previous evening, indicates that the top end of the contemporary art market is in excellent health.

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