The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York has announced that some of his work would go under the hammer at Christie's in November, reports The Telegraph. The pieces will be sold through Christie's auction house to raise money for its endowment.
The first piece to go under the hammer is a silk screen of Marlon Brando from the movie, The Wild One. The image depicts a young Brando straddling a motorbike in his famous leather jacket, and experts predict it could sell for as much as $20 million. "Alongside his portraits of Elvis Presley, Warhol's image of Marlon Brando exudes a raw sexuality and intense power rarely found in his work," said Brett Gorvy, Christie's chairman for post-war and contemporary art. Marlon, a 1966 silkscreen that is one of the late pop artist's most famous Hollywood portraits, will be part of the auction of post-war and contemporary art. It is being sold from the collection of businessman and Museum of Modern Art trustee Donald Bryant Jr. The piece, which was taken from a publicity photo for the 1953 movie about motorcycle gangs, is to be sold at Christie's New York headquarters on 14 November. The sale coincides with the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition of works by Warhol.
The collection will be sold over a number of years, and features prints to photographs; many of which have never been seen publically before.