No one would be more stunned by the $104.5 million sale of Andy Warhol’s “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)” at Sotheby’s on Wednesday than the artist himself.
“During his lifetime, Andy’s paintings never fetched a million dollars,” said writer Richard Turley, a friend who co-produced a Broadway musical with Warhol.
“In fact, the total income he ever received from his artworks was probably less than this staggering sum.”
Although he was modest and unpretentious, the Pope of Pop was keenly aware that people hang expensive paintings on their walls to awe their guests.
Turley said, “Andy once joked to me that he would be more impressed if rich people framed their bank statements and displayed them on the living room walls.”