52 piece collection of Andy Warhol works to be auctioned in June at Bloomsbury

June 7, 2007

( London) - Bloomsbury Auctions announced today that on Saturday, June 20, it will auction The Warhol Collection, a sale of 52 works devoted solely to the prolific master’s oeuvre. Highlights from the sale include an important pair of canvases from the 1980s; a complete set of 17 watercolors over lithograph of Sam, his mother’s cat; and iconic portraits of Mick Jagger, Judy Garland and Liz Taylor among others. The fully illustrated catalog may be viewed at www.LiveAuctioneers.com, where those interested can also bid to own a piece of art history.

"Key Service (Positive) and Key Service (Negative)" reference Warhol’s earliest interest in popular imagery as well as his obsession with 1960s advertising. These paintings, created in the 1980s, are wonderful examples of Warhol revisiting the imagery of his early career. Another highlight is one of Warhol’s earliest images, the fabulous feline, Sam. A complete set of 17 watercolors over lithograph of the iconic image is estimated at $240,000 - 300,000.

And for any shoe fetishists, the sale contains one of Warhol's most startling images: "Shoes," an enormous silkscreen measuring 1 x 1.5 meters and covered in diamond dust.

Bloomsbury 's Angus Maguire says collectors are finally realizing Warhol's importance. "With his mass-produced images he took away the exclusivity of fine art and made it available to everybody on any level of understanding, from the academic to the everyday," he said.

The complete collection is online now at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.