Artnet has gotten a lot of press for their current offering of a Warhol Flower painting that is estimated at more than $1m. But a more significant lot has snuck into the same sale in the last couple of weeks.
A 6ft. 5 in. John Chamberlain sculpture, Mrs. Yif Nif, made from the artist’s signature crushed metal in 1986 is on offer for $3m or more. If the work sells, it will represent a 10-fold increase in the top price that Artnet has been able to achieve online. It would also be a record price for any work sold online.
The price would also make a strong showing within the artist’s own auction history. Only two other works have sold above the $3m level and one of those came from the Allan Stone estate this past May at Sotheby’s. Indeed, the third highest price paid for a Chamberlain also went to work from Stone’s collection at the earlier Christie’s sale in November of 2007. That one made a little more than $2.8m.
The auction ends on Wednesday, July 20th at 1pm Eastern Daylight Time (the site says EST—which is either European Summer Time or Eastern Standard Time—but they surely mean Eastern Daylight Time) so we’re not likely to see much action until the final few minutes.
