Although Sotheby’s did not release the name of the seller of Warhol’s $44million (£26 million) painting, 200 One Dollar Bills, in New York last week, it was quickly established that it had been owned by London-based collector Pauline Karpidas.
Manchester-born Karpidas bought the painting, with her Greek husband, at Sotheby’s in 1986 for $385,000, a record. Why she was selling was not revealed. Apart from bringing a lift to the market, the price may prove beneficial for young artists and educational establishments. Karpidas, who was introduced to the art world in the Seventies by Athens art dealer Alexander Iolas has long been known as a patron of young artists whose work she displays at her workshop gallery on Hydra. She is a benefactor of Tate and the Sir John Soane Museum in London, and an education centre at New York’s New Museum is named after her and her late husband, Constantine.
A rare example of a Warhol painting that has increased significantly in value within the last year is the portrait of Michael Jackson which was sold last week. In 1984, Warhol made five paintings in different colours as a commission for Time magazine. The version used for the cover hangs in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington. Another, bought for $278,000 last May, was offered by the Vered Gallery in East Hampton this summer and reputedly sold for over $1 million. A third, belonging to New York collector-dealer Jose Mugrabi was offered at Sotheby’s last year with a $500,000 estimate, but not sold. Last week, it returned to the rostrum at Christie’s with the same estimate and sold for $812,000 to London jeweller Laurence Graff.
A 22-inch metal skeleton made as an armature to hold the figure of King Kong during the finale of the 1933 movie can be seen at Christie’s in South Kensington this weekend, prior to its sale on Tuesday, when it is expected to fetch up to £150,000. Such armatures were designed for the new stop-motion process and the skeleton was padded with cotton and rubber and covered with liquid latex. The only large-scale model made, it was designed for Kong as he scaled the Empire State Building. Years later, it was rescued by miniature enthusiast Eugene Hilchey for a Hollywood Museum project. Hilchey now wants “people everywhere to see” the piece, and he entrusted it to LA film consultants Bison Archives/Productions, which brought it to Christie’s for sale.
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