An Andy Warhol painting titled Large Coca Cola put the fizz into Sotheby’s New York contemporary art auction on Tuesday when it beat expectations and sold for $35.3 million.
The black and white Warhol, originally estimated to go for $20 to $25 million, sweetened the evening’s total haul of $222.4 million, which was also over pre-auction predictions. Ninety per cent of lots found buyers, even if there were no spectacular new records set for artists.
A 1955 Mark Rothko that had been estimated to sell for $20 to $30 million eventually went for $22.4 million to an unidentified buyer from Asia, the auction house said.
Overall, Sotheby’s said it had been a good auction.
—AFP