Seminal pop art goes on sale at Christie's

May 3, 1997
Web posted at: 4:00 p.m. EDT

From Correspondent Harley Hotchkiss

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Whether buying art or groceries, New York shoppers insist on value.

Cans of Campbell's soup easily sell from grocery story shelves. But while most shoppers wouldn't buy if there wasn't soup inside, others seem to think a million dollars is a fair price for a soup label.

That's particularly true if the soup label that fetches that price was created by Andy Warhol. "Big Tom Campbell's Soup Can" (1962) goes on sale this week at Christie's Park Avenue auction house.

"It is the most important Warhol to come to Christie's since November of 1994," said Neal Meltzer of Christie's Contemporary Art Department

Roy Lichtenstein's war painting, "Blang," comes with an even bigger price tag -- $3 to $4 million. And for Willem de Koonig's expressionist masterpiece, "Amityville," the asking price is $2 million.

Rare works by other artists will be offered for prices ranging anywhere from $500,000 to $3 million.

Related site:

• Contemporary Art - Christie's site on the May 7th auction

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