WARHOL SELF PORTRAIT SELLS FOR $32.6 MILLION

A self portrait by the late gay pop artist, Andy Warhol, has been sold for $32.6 Million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York.

Wednesday’s sale sets a new record for a Warhol self portrait; before the auction the painting had been expected to sell for around $15 million.

The purple hued 2.74 by 2.74 metre 1986 silkscreen painting was created by the artist a year before his death and was put on auction by its owner, the designer and film director Tom Ford.

Six bidders competed for the artwork, which was eventually sold to Gregoire Billaut of Sotheby’s in Paris who was bidding by telephone on behalf of an unidentified buyer.

There are said to only be six versions of the self portrait – each in a different colour – in the world, of which three are owned by art galleries.