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A Warhol Painting Just Sold For $105 Million, But You Can Pick Up One Of The Artist's Works For Around $1,200

Paige Cooperstein   

A Warhol Painting Just Sold For $105 Million, But You Can Pick Up One Of The Artist's Works For Around $1,200
LifeThelife2 min read

Colorado Boots

Christie's

"Colorado Boots" has a starting bid of $800 at Christie's online auction

Today is the last day to get a piece of Andy Warhol for as little as $800.

The late blue chip artist recently broke auction house records with a $105.4 million sale from his oeuvre.

Now Christie's has collected 99 original Warhol photographs, prints, Polaroids and drawings, which are currently for sale in an online-only holiday-themed auction. All bidders have to do is create an online account to bid for the "approachably priced" Warhols.

While "Colorado Boots," a print, is the only work under the virtual hammer for less than $1,000, the rest of the lots hover around the relatively inexpensive $1,200 mark. That's a dream price range for a first-time collector looking to break into established artists.

The sale started Dec. 2 as an extension of Cyber Monday, one of the first times Christie's decided to do such a targeted holiday promotion. Most lots, featuring everything from Santas to snow angels, only have one bid on them with less than 24 hours to go.

"The last 24 hours are always where we see the most online activity," Amelia Manderscheid, head of e-commerce for post-war and contemporary art at Christie's, said to Business Insider. "If someone bids in the last couple seconds, the lot time (a countdown clock above each image on the web page) will keep extending on that item as long as clients keep bidding. It gets competitive at the end just like being in the sale room."

Manderscheid offered some advice for scoring a reasonably priced Warhol this holiday season:

  • Pay attention to the dynamic calculator on your profile page while bidding. It shows the real price of your item with each bid, including the cost of shipping the work to your address on file and the buyer's premium (at Christie's that's 25% for works under $100,000).
  • Remember the bidding increments: $100 - $2,000 bids increase by $100, $2,000 - $3,000 bids increase by $200. Anything higher for the Warhol sale usually goes up in $1,000 increments
  • Call a Christie's representative if you have a question while you bid
  • You'll get texts or emails throughout the day if someone outbids you, but make yourself available for the last 15 minutes before your most desired lot closes. Bid on your tablet or phone if you have to be away from your computer.

The Warhols that aren't sold will most likely be held for future auctions or a private sale with a client.

If you miss the pop frenzy, there's one week left on Christie's Unwrapped sale, which the auction house stocked with holiday gift ideas from all its departments at flat prices, so there's no saleroom anxiety.

Highlights include a David Hockney lithograph for $15,000 and an American flag flown from Apollo 11 that Buzz Aldrin signed for $32,000. Most things you can buy outright, but there are two charity lots: A game-day date with Derek Jeter has a starting bid of $90,000, and the chance to accompany the Clinton Foundation to a handful of African countries has a starting bid of $75,000.

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