WARHOL’S GREEN CAR CRASH SELLS FOR RECORD $72M US

CBC Manitoba, Canada
May 17 2007

Confident art market snaps up modern works

Andy Warhol’s green image of a fatal car crash sold for a record $72
million US Wednesday at Christie’s auction of postwar and contemporary
art in New York.

It was the second record-setting day in sales of postwar art,
with a Mark Rothko selling for close to $73 million US on Tuesday
at Sotheby’s.

Andy Warhol’s Lemon Marilyn, an acrylic and silkscreen on linen,
sold Wednesday for $28 million US.

(Christies Images/Associated Press) An anonymous buyer bought Warhol’s
Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I) for $71.7 million, more than
quadruple the previous top auction price for a Warhol.

Last November, Warhol’s Mao sold for $17.4 million US, setting the
previous record for the pop artist.

Green Car Crash uses a news photograph of a grisly car crash,
silkscreened in green. It was part of a series Warhol printed based
on deadly crashes.

Another Warhol, Lemon Marilyn, an iconic image of Marilyn Monroe,
sold for $28 million US.

Christies reported several records were set for individual artists
during the Wednesday auction.

A canvas by American contemporary artist Jasper Johns, Figure 4,
sold for $17.4 million US; Khorkom by Armenian-American expressionist
painter Arshile Gorky sold for about $4.2 million US; and a photograph
by Cindy Sherman, Untitled No. 92, sold for $2.1 million US.

The auction itself took in a total of nearly $385 million US, making
it the second most lucrative art auction ever held.

Marc Porter, president of Christie’s Americas, said the phenomenal
results of the past two weeks reflect confidence in the art market
and the economy.

"The art market is strong at all levels, whether it’s a $20,000 or
a $5-million work," he told Reuters.

"Buying and consumption are based on wealth, and people just feel
very confident."