London: Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong's painting by American pop artist Andy Warhol has been auctioned at Sotheby's in London for a whopping 7.6 million pounds, 18 times more than the price paid last time it went to auction.
Warhol was said to have been inspired to create the iconic series of Chinese communist leader Mao's paintings by the historic visit of the then US president Richard Nixon to China in 1972.
The artist transformed the official portrait of the Chinese leader, in this case using the red and yellow colour scheme of the Cultural Revolution. It was last sold at auction in June 2000 for just 421,500 pounds, The Telegraph reported.
The paintings were excluded from a major show of Warhol's work exhibited in China last year. The US-based Andy Warhol Museum that organised the tour of his work said: "Although we had hoped to include our Mao paintings in the exhibition to show Warhol's keen interest in Chinese culture, we understand that certain imagery is still not able to be shown in China."
The organisers did not indicate whether they had been censored by Chinese authorities. The auction at Sotheby's also included the sale of Gerhard Richter's 1994 abstract work Wand (Wall) for 17.4 million pounds.
The oil painting has been shown in 20 museum exhibitions, including a Richter retrospective "Forty Years of Painting" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, but it had never before been offered for sale by the artist.
Another high-profile newcomer on to the art market was Lucian Freud's 1961 painting, "Head on a Green Sofa", which sold for 2.9 million pounds.
Warhol was said to have been inspired to create the iconic series of Chinese communist leader Mao's paintings by the historic visit of the then US president Richard Nixon to China in 1972.
The artist transformed the official portrait of the Chinese leader, in this case using the red and yellow colour scheme of the Cultural Revolution. It was last sold at auction in June 2000 for just 421,500 pounds, The Telegraph reported.
The organisers did not indicate whether they had been censored by Chinese authorities. The auction at Sotheby's also included the sale of Gerhard Richter's 1994 abstract work Wand (Wall) for 17.4 million pounds.
Advertisement
Another high-profile newcomer on to the art market was Lucian Freud's 1961 painting, "Head on a Green Sofa", which sold for 2.9 million pounds.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Chinese Chef Slammed For Mocking Death of Mao Zedong's Son With Fried Rice Video China's Population Shrinking For The First Time In 60 Years. Here's Why Watch: Climate Change Activists Target Andy Warhol Exhibition In Milan Woman On Scooter With 2 Kids Punched, Left Bleeding In Pune Road Rage Case After Retest, Haryana NEET Centre With Most Top Scorers Gave This Result... The 'Fake' CrowdStrike Worker Who Took Credit For Biggest-Ever IT Outage Dalit Teen Gang-Raped In UP, 1 Arrested: Cops Man Killed After He Objects To Barking Of Pet Dogs In Madya Pradesh Woman On Scooter With 2 Kids Punched, Left Bleeding In Pune Road Rage Case Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.