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Andy Warhol's portraits of Elvis Presley and Marlon Brando sold for almost $152 million

Presley’s portrait created by Warhol in 1963 was sold at Christie’s auction for $81.9 million, while the portrait of Brando (1966) was sold for $69.6 million

NEW YORK, November 13. /TASS/. The works by Andy Warhol "Triple Elvis" and "Four Marlons" were sold for $151.5 million at the auction of postwar and modern art hosted by Christie’s auction block in New York.

Elvis Presley portrait created by Warhol in 1963 especially for Ferus Los Angeles gallery exhibition was sold for $81.9 million. The painting of over 2 meters high performed in Warhol’s technique of serigraphy was copied from a poster for the film "Flaming Star", 1960, showing Presley as a cowboy armed with a hip. The triple repetition of the image was used by Warhol to create an effect of a zoomed-in film fragment, said at Christie’s.

Marlon Brando portrait, 1966, was sold for $96.6 million. The famous American actor is depicted as Johnny Strabler – main character of the film called The Wild One, released in 1953. Warhol was a big fan of this movie. The paintings were expected to bring a total of $130 million.

Andy Warhol is a legendary figure in the history of pop-art. In 1962 he painted his famous works “Green Coca-Cola Bottles” and “Campbell's Soup Cans” before he started to work with celebrities as a photographer and an artist. A master of extraordinary and a creator of the portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Liza Minnelli,  Jimmy Carter, he remains one of the most sold modern painters.

The auction for the after-war and modern art, Christie's, has become the most lucrative in the auctions history. The total income ammounts to $853 million. According to the Christie’s representatives, 75 out of 80 works put up for auction were sold.

Earlier this week a series of auctions was held in Sotheby's auction house. The total income was $551,5 million. The top lots were three canvas of an American abstract impressionism representative Mark Rothko (1903-1970), that was sold for $121,5 million. One of cult “Flags” of a contemporary american artist Jasper Johns was sold for $36 million, setting a record for auction price of this artist.