The contemporary art market seems to be galloping towards recovery if the recent sales at Christie’s post war and contemporary arts auction is seen as the thermometer. The star sale at this auction was the 1964 “Ohhh…Alright…†painting by Roy Liechtenstein. The November 10 auction garnered an impressive $38million plus approximately 4.6 million fees for Christie’s. This painting left behind some iconic painting’s such as Warhol’s soup can opener that had gone under the hammer for $23.9 million, considerably less than its estimates of $30-50 million.
The seller was Steve Wynn, a Las Vegas casino owner, while the latest owner was an anonymous bidder, who made the bid on the phone. This bidder was infact the only one who had made a contractual agreement with Christie’s before the sale. This painting reminds you of those comics of yesteryears and has a redhead looking puzzled while she say “ohhh…alright†on the phone.
This painting is part of Lichtenstein’s Dream Girls paintings created between 1961-1965 and feature his signature Ben-Day dots. When talking about the popularity and the high price this painting fetched, art experts said that collectors usually want instantly recognizable images. Though Warhol’s paintings have that kind of iconic appeal, they aren’t as rare as the ones by Liechtenstein, thus explaining their high valuation.
