artnet Auctions Launches Prints Masterworks Auction

Written by Barney Ebbsworth Thursday, 17 September 2009 22:25

NEW YORK, NY.- Now through September 29, artnet Auctions is featuring the Prints Masterworks Auction, a special online auction of prints and multiples by some of the most influential artists of the 20th-21st century. The sale comprises 150 works by 50 artists including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Pablo Picasso with estimates from $1,000-$150,000.

Leading the sale is Michael Jackson by Andy Warhol, a stunning portrait of the self-proclaimed “King of Pop” executed in 1984 at the height of his fame (estimate: $125,000-150,000). Warhol was commissioned by Time magazine to create a cover image of Michael Jackson. This unique silkscreen is one of several studies Warhol executed in preparation for the cover. It is expected to attract significant bidder interest as it has never before appeared at auction and is only the second important Michael Jackson portrait by Andy Warhol to be offered at auction since Jackson’s death.

Another highlight is Andy Warhol’s Edward Kennedy, a stately image of the late Senator published in 1980 by the Kennedy for President Committee to raise funds for the Senator’s primary campaign (estimate: $12,000-15,000). A copy of this print hung in Kennedy’s office in Washington D.C. Other iconic Warhol portraits offered in the sale include Mao, 1972, Rebel without a Cause (James Dean), 1985, and Queen Elizabeth, 1985.

Among the other top lots are two important prints by Roy Lichtenstein, Sweet Dreams Baby, 1965, one of his most recognizable Pop images (estimate: $75,000-85,000) and Art Critic, 1996 (estimate: $32,000-38,000).

The auction also celebrates renowned artist Francis Bacon, including the rare Study for a Portrait of John Edwards, 1988 (estimate: $10,000-12,000). Edwards was Bacon’s closest companion and friend and the subject of many of the artist’s important late paintings. He was the sole heir to Bacon’s estate at the time of the artist’s death in 1992. Bacon’s many portraits of Edwards were recently exhibited in the blockbuster Francis Bacon retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

In addition to these important highlights, the sale showcases modern masterworks by Marc Chagall, Joan Miro and Pablo Picasso; mid-century modern American prints by Sam Francis, Robert Motherwell, and Helen Frankenthaler; and important contemporary prints by David Hockney, Jasper Johns, Alex Katz, and Tom Wesselmann.

You can browse the sale on www.artnet.com/Masterworks.

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