NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s bi-annual Prints sale in New York on 1 and 2 November 2012 will feature 10 complete sets by Andy Warhol, comprising many of the most iconic images of 20th Century art, highlighted by the vibrant, fluorescent Marilyn Monroe (est. $1.4/1.8 million). This complete portfolio from a European Private Collector includes ten screenprints in color and is accompanied by the original stamp-numbered cardboard box from 1967. Other complete Warhol sets to be offered include: Mao (est. $400/800,000), Flowers (est. $350/550,000), Endangered Species (est. $400/500,000), Myths (est. $400/600,000), Electric Chairs (est. $80/120,000), Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century (est. $150/200,000), Hammer and Sickle (est. $30/50,000), Camouflage (est. $80/120,000), and Flash – November 22, 1963 (est. $35/45,000). Highlights from the sale will be on view at Sotheby’s New York headquarters beginning on 28 October.

An additional highlight of the 389 lot sale is the early and rare Keith/Mezzotint by Chuck Close (est. $600/800,000), a visual masterpiece and technical triumph, which epitomizes the creativity, ambition, and innovation that has come to characterize Chuck Close’s work in all media. This work, enormous in scale at 44 ½ by 35 inches, is the only one of its kind left in private hands to purchase. Of the ten final prints and eight proofs, the rest are scattered between Europe and America, with many impressions residing in museum collections including The Museum of Modern Art in New York, Achenbach Foundation in San Francisco, Henie-Onstad Museum in Oslo and Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam.

Also offered in the auction is Jasper John’s early lithograph, Ale Cans (est. $140/180,000) from 1964, as well as a variety of David Hockney’s swimming pool lithographs including Lithograph of Water Made of Thick and Thin Lines and Two Light Blue Washes (est. $25/35,000) and Afternoon Swimming (est. $50/70,000).


*Pre-sale estimate does not include buyer’s premium.