Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Andy Warhol’s portrait of Queen Elizabeth II breaks global auction record

Artist’s 1985 portrait of the late Queen set a ‘global auction record for an editioned print’

Inga Parkel
Wednesday 30 November 2022 18:06 GMT
Comments
Warhol's portrait of the Queen

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Andy Warhol’s 1985 portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II has set a global auction record.

On 24 November, Canada’s Heffel Fine Art Auction House sold the piece for $1,141,250 (£954,667), twice its estimated sale price of roughly $405,000 (£338,600).

The following day, the museum announced on Facebook that “the crown jewel” of its fall auction of Post-War & Contemporary Art, had “surpassed the million dollar mark, and broke the global record for any Warhol editioned print ever sold at auction”.

The “highly coveted” piece is one of four of the renowned artist’s 1985 Reigning Queen series.

Its creation is based on a 1975 photograph taken by Peter Grugeon at Windsor Castle, which was later published in 1977 in commemoration of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee.

Featuring Warhol’s signature pop art design, the artwork depicts the Queen wearing her famous Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara, set against a contrasting royal blue background.

Layered with diamond dust, it gives off a shimmery effect under light.

Record-setting portrait is on far left
Record-setting portrait is on far left (PA Archive)

While the Queen’s portrait set a record for Warhol’s editioned print sales, his Marilyn Monroe portrait, titled “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” still remains his most expensive work to date, having sold for a staggering $195m (£161m) in May.

Earlier this month, Warhol’s masterpiece from his “Death And Disaster” series sold for $86m (£72m).

Born in 1928, the American artist gained notoriety in 1962 with his famous paintings of Campbell’s soup cans, Coca-Cola bottles and wooden replicas of Brillo soap-pad boxes.

Warhol died in 1987 at age 58 of cardiac arrhythmia after undergoing gallbladder surgery.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in