Lichtenstein Painting Sold to Anonymous Phone Bidder for $42.6 Million !!!

November 11, 2010 by Nataly in Art

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A cartoon-style painting by Roy Lichtenstein has sold at auction for $42.6m (£26.4m) and smashed a previous record for the US ‘pop artist’.

The painting, which features a close-up of a woman on the phone with a speech bubble containing the title “Ohhh… Alright…” has sold at the Christie’s postwar and contemporary art sale in New York on Wednesday night and according to Christie it went to an anonymous phone bidder. Lichtenstein’s previous record price was $16.2 million in 2005.

The 1964 Roy Lichtenstein painting “Ohhh… Alright…” sold by Las Vegas casino and hotel magnate Steve Wynn, was the star of the auction the day after rival Sotheby’s sold an Andy Warhol painting titled “Large Coca Cola” for $35.3 million.

The auction on Wednesday night, dominated by U.S. buying, realized a total of $272,873,000. “Led by an exceptional group of museum-quality works from Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, and Gerhard Richter, this was an evening rich with masterpiece quality works offered fresh to the market from this season’s most important private, corporate and estate collections.” said Marc Porter, Chairman of Christie’s Americas.