By WAKATO ONISHI/ Senior Staff Writer
March 31, 2022 at 18:41 JST
A silkscreen print by Andy Warhol of actress Elizabeth Taylor fetches a record 2.3 billion yen at an auction held at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on March 30. (Wakato Onishi)
An iconic silkscreen print by Andy Warhol of actress Elizabeth Taylor went under the hammer for 2.3 billion yen ($18.9 million) in Tokyo, the highest bid ever seen at an auction in Japan, according to Shinwa Auction Co., which held the bidding.
Warhol, who died in 1987, spearheaded the 1960s pop art movement.
The auction was held March 30 at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.
The portrait, created in 1963, is titled “Silver Liz (Ferus Type)” and measures about 1 meter by 1 meter. It stands as a superb example of Warhol’s silkscreen technique.
It was formerly part of the “Ise Collection” of artworks owned by Hikonobu Ise, founder of Ise Foods Inc., a major egg retailer.
Ise Foods is currently reorganizing its business affairs due to its huge debt.
Warhol’s works have fetched stunning sums at auctions overseas, with some of them going for more than the equivalent of 10 billion yen.
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