Andy Warhol’s ‘Car Crash’ Painting Heads To First Auction In 35 Years
Slated to become of the most expensive works by the artist sold publicly, an Andy Warhol silkscreen painting from his famed Death and Disasters series will be going under the hammer for the first time in over three decades.
The artwork, White Disaster (White Car Crash 19 Times), which will be sold at Sotheby’s marquee New York sales, is expected to bring in over US$80 million. Though, as ARTnews notes, it is heading to the sale without a guarantee, giving rise to the possibility that the piece may not find a buyer.
Regarded as one of Warhol’s most seminal works, the Death and Disasters series revolves around dark themes, featuring images of accidents, riots, and suicides that had made the news during the era.
Notably, the last time a painting from the series hit the auction block, Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) raked in US$105.4 million, setting a record for a work by Warhol at the time. The most expensive work by the artist has since changed, with his portrait of Marilyn Monroe selling for US$195 million earlier this year.
As per Forbes, both White Disaster (White Car Crash 19 Times) and Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) used the same car crash image and were created in the same year, explaining the incredibly high price tag accompanying the piece soon to be auctioned off.
Astonishingly, the last time the painting was sold publicly in 1987, it had only cost US$650,000, though after changing hands privately, it could now command over a hundred times its original price.
The artwork will go on public display for the first time in 15 years from November 4, 2022, as part of Sotheby’s New York pre-sale exhibition.
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