Warhol's Jackson sells at auction

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/entertainment/8211449.stm

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A portrait of the late Michael Jackson by Andy Warhol has sold at auction in New York for an undisclosed amount.

The Vered Gallery, in Long Island, would only say that an anonymous buyer had "paid over $1m" (£605,000) for the 76cm by 66cm piece.

The 1984 portrait of the singer, which was displayed at London's O2 Arena ahead of the sale, was commissioned to celebrate sales of the Thriller album.

Warhol's painting of actress Elizabeth Taylor fetched $23.7m (£14m) in 2007.

In the same year, the 1963 painting Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I) - depicting an overturned car on fire - sold for $71.7m (£42.8m), a record for a Warhol piece.

The US artist, who died in 1987 following a gall bladder operation, was a leading figure in the Pop Art movement.