THE FIRST evening alone of Christie’s record-breaking sale of jewellery and other items owned by the late actor Elizabeth Taylor in New York this week took in a staggering $116 million (€89 million).
The sale was the most valuable jewellery auction in history, easily overtaking the previous record of $50 million achieved for the (far classier) collection of the Duchess of Windsor in Geneva in 1987.
Later in the week, Christie’s also sold couture, fashion accessories, film costumes and memorabilia from Taylor’s estate, including a yellow silk evening coat labelled “Sybil Connolly Dublin”, made in the 1960s, which sold for $9,375 (€7,200) – way above the estimate of $600-$800.
Amidst the frocks and rocks, a picture by pop artist Andy Warhol titled Liz sold for the extraordinary sum of $662,500 (€508,500) against a pre-sale estimate of $30,000-$50,000. It was signed by Warhol and inscribed: “To Elizabeth with love”.
Despite numerous stories appearing on the internet referring to the sale of a "Warhol painting of Elizabeth Taylor" this was not an original painting but rather a framed print, from an edition of approximately 300, published by the Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, in 1964. A copy of Lizfrom the same print run is for sale in Dublin at Solomon Fine Art – in Balfe Street beside the Westbury Hotel – priced, according to the gallery, "at a mere €45,000".
Original paintings of Elizabeth Taylor by Andy Warhol sell for tens of millions of dollars.
– MP
