NEW YORK, 21 April 2016 – Sotheby’s spring auction of Prints & Multiples concluded today in New York, totaling $8.1 million — nearing the high estimate of $8.5 million, and with 85.9% of lots sold. Top prices were commanded by bold Pop artists like Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Jasper Johns, as well as a range of subjects by Pablo Picasso.

The evening session on 20 April was led by Picasso’s Portrait de jeune fille, d'après Cranach le jeune (B. 859; BA. 1053), a linoleum cut printed in colors from 1958, which sold above its high estimate for $694,000 — a record for the image at auction (estimate $400/600,000). Further highlights of the sale included Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled: Four Prints, which achieved $298,000 (est. $100/150,000); Marcel Duchamp’s L.H.O.O.Q. Shaved (Schwarz 615), which set a new record for the image at auction when it sold for $100,000 (estimate $30/50,000); and Moonwalk (F. & S. II.405) by Andy Warhol, which more than doubled its high estimate, selling for $262,000 and also setting a new auction record for the image (estimate $80/100,000).

Mary Bartow, Head of Sotheby’s Prints Department in New York, said: “We were thrilled with the results of this season’s sale, which demonstrated the continuing interest by both emerging and established collectors in the Prints and Multiples category. While there was competitive, international bidding for works across genres spanning the late 19th Century to today, works by Picasso and Pop Art examples from masters such as Warhol and Lichtenstein performed particularly well, selling for multiples of their estimates and achieving new benchmark prices.”

Results - Sotheby's Prints April 2016-1