Warhol's Dollars Bring Big Money

"It was really Warhol's night," Philippe Ségalot said of Sotheby's Contemporary Art auction Wednesday evening. Ségalot, a Manhattan art dealer, was one of the underbidders to the night's highlight: Andy Warhol's classic "200 One Dollar Bills." Previously owned by taxi tycoon Robert C. Skull, the work's provenance, coupled with its pristine condition, made it a very attractive purchase. Bids bounced around the room between five collectors vying to own the work, which was one of Warhol's first silkscreen paintings. Finally, an anonymous phone bidder closed the deal for $43.8 million including fees.

Reproduced in a grid a grid formation, black and white images of a one dollar bill with a blue Treasury seal cover the 7.5 foot canvas. The seller, London based collector Pauline Karpidas, originally purchased the work in 1986 for $385 thousand, over 100 times less than Wednesday's sale. "We've seen nothing like this recently," said Tony Shafrazi, a New York dealer. "This is a masterpiece."

Works by David Hockney, Alice Neel, Jean Dubuffet, and Jasper Johns, to name a few, also drew up quite a bit of interest. Only two out of the 54 lots went unsold, demonstrating a rebound in the art market. With estimates for all the works totaling $67.9 million, Wednesday's sale drastically exceeded expectations, bringing in $134.4 million instead.