Christie's International is shipping a 14-foot-high Andy Warhol "Mao" portrait to Hong Kong in search of a buyer, reports Bloomberg.
The silkscreen-on-canvas work, which will be displayed in the city's main convention center May 22–29 as part of an exhibition dedicated to Warhol's representations of the late communist leader, is expected to bring in up to $120 million in a private sale. Warhol's auction record currently stands at $71.7 million, paid for Green Car Crash (1963) at Christie's last May.
Christie's is offering the "Mao," one of Warhol's largest and the only one in private hands, on behalf of an anonymous European seller. The other Mao portraits of this size are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin. None has been shown outside of the West.
"It's worth $120 million because it's so rare," said Ken Yeh, Christie's deputy chairman in Asia.
The exhibition, "Mao by Andy Warhol," which Christie's organized in collaboration with New York's L&M Arts gallery, will feature 15 portraits.
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