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Naked Avarice Grips Art World as Sotheby’s Offers $93 Million Money-Themed Sale
Cait Munro
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It’s not exactly newsworthy that an auction at Sotheby’s will be all about the Benjamins, but this time it’s a bit more literal. The upcoming sale of a money-themed collection at the London auction house, according to the Los Angeles Times, boasts 21 works by contemporary artists that feature the almighty dollar bill. The sale, titled, “To The Bearer On Demand,” will take place on July 1st as part of Sotheby’s contemporary evening auction, and is expected to fetch between $62.8 million and $92.6 million.
The pieces hail from a single private collector in Europe, and the collection features works by Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Joseph Beuys, Wang Jin, Zheng Liu, and the art duo Tim Noble and Sue Webster.
The highlight of the sale is Warhol’s One Dollar Bill (Silver Certificate)(1962), which is expected to sell for up to $30 million. Also featured will be Front and Back Dollar Bills, a silkscreen that features multiple bills, as well as the 1981 works Dollar Sign and Dollar Signs.
The 21 works will be on display at Sotheby’s in Los Angeles today, before heading to London. The July 1st contemporary auction will also feature pieces by Francis Bacon, Gerhard Richter, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
With the market for Warhol booming (see Buy, Sell, Hold: Andy Warhol, Three Iconic Warhol Portraits Coming to Auction at Bonhams, A Constellation of Warhol Starlets at Fall Auctions), we can’t imagine the auction house will have a hard time turning one dollar bill into $30 million.
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