Andy Warhol
Self-Portrait, 1986
Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas 106-3/4 x 106-1/2 x 1-3/4 inches
Estimate: $30,000,000-40,000,000
Andy Warhol
Self-Portrait, 1963-1964
Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, in four parts, overall: 40 x 32 in. (101.6 x 81.3 cm.)
Estimate: $20,000,000-30,000,000
Francis Bacon
Three Studies for Self-Portrait titled `Study for Self-Portrait‘ (on the reverse of each panel)
triptych—oil on canvas each: 14 x 12 in. (35.6 x 30.5 cm.)
Painted in 1974.
Estimate on Request
Bacon, Warhol highlight Christie’s sale, May 2011 Two superb self-portraits by Andy Warhol and an important ‘Three Studies for Self-Portrait’ by Francis Bacon will highlight Christie’s sale of contemporary art in New York, May 2011]]>
April 22, 2011, source: Christie’s / theartwolf.com
Only few days after the announce that Christie’s will auction an iconic 1963-1964 self-portrait by Andy Warhol (estimated to sell for $20-30 million) at its sale of contemporary art on May 11, 2011, the same auction house has announced that the same auction will include another important self-portrait by Warhol, executed in the artist’s signature Pop Red and labeled by Christie’s as Warhol’s ‘last great masterpiece’.
Measuring 106-3/4 x 106-1/2 x 1-3/4 inches, this self-portrait is certainly one of the most powerful works ever created by Warhol. As Christie’s states in a press note, “At almost 9 feet square, the artist stares directly at the viewer and at death itself. The crimson and black make the work almost demonic in its intensity.”
With these two self-portraits being sold at the same sale, an obvious question arises: which one of the two is the most desirable? The 1963-1964 one is probably the most important of the pair, but the later one is certainly a much more impressive work.
In addition to the pair of Warhols, the sale will also include an important self portrait by Francis Bacon. Carrying an ‘estimate on request’, ‘Three Studies for Self Portrait’ is a 1974 tour de force by Bacon, one of the only 10 self-portraits the artist created in the 1970s. The press note released by Christie’s includes an interesting quotation by Bacon: “I loathe my own face, but I go on painting it only because I haven’t got any other people to do… [there is] nobody else left to paint.”
At the same sale, Christie’s will offer another important work by Bacon: ‘Untitled’, painted in 1952, is a 77 1/2 x 54 in. (196.9 x 137 cm.) work and carries and estimate of $10-15 million.
Related content
Andy Warhol’s ‘Men in Her Life’ sells for $63 million (2010)
Francis Bacon: self-portrait (part of the ’10 great self-portraits’ article by theartwolf.com
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