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NEW YORK, Nov 14, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Christie's auction house in New York is giving art lovers the chance to bid on Andy Warhol's iconic images of Marilyn Monroe and Mao Zedong.
Christie's sale of postwar and contemporary art comes just one week after modern and Impressionist paintings sold for $800 million at auction houses, the New York Daily News reported.
The auction house has called the Warhol sale "the largest and most valuable auction ever organized in the field" with a total pre-sale estimate of $160 million to $220 million.
Warhol's 81-inch-by-61-inch silkscreen portrait of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, is one of the headliners of the sale. It was produced in 1971 when China and the U.S. were renewing diplomatic relations.
"This work has the most prestigious provenance, staggering wall-power and is literally an icon of the 20th century," said Brett Gorvy, head of Christie's postwar and contemporary art department.
Warhol's "Orange Marilyn," a 1962 synthetic polymer and silkscreen of the late Hollywood actress, is expected to fetch up to $15 million on auction.
Seven other Warhol paintings are also up for bid.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
