Warhol’s ‘Liz’ painting nets $23.7 million

Andy Warhol’s turquoise-background Elizabeth Taylor portrait sold for $23.7 million Tuesday at Christie’s auction house, a spokeswoman said.

An anonymous bidder bought the portrait, “Liz (Colored Liz),” from a private collector. The sale price, which included the auction house’s commission, fell below pre-sale estimates of $25 million to $35 million.

The 40-by-40-inch portrait is part of a series Warhol created in the 1960s of his muses including Taylor, Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy.

Warhol completed “Liz (Colored Liz)” in 1963 about the same time Taylor suffered from a life-threatening illness. The painting is one of a series of a dozen and features a turquoise background and colorful eye shadow, violet eyes and red lipstick.

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Also as part of Christie’s art sale, “Diamond (Blue),” a sculpture from Jeff Koons’ 1994-2005 “Celebration” series, was sold to the Gagosian Gallery for $11.8 million, Christie’s spokeswoman Milena Sales said. Its pre-sale estimate was $12 million.

The top seller at the auction was Mark Rothko’s 1995 “Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange),” which was sold to an anonymous bidder for $34.2 million, slightly higher than its pre-auction estimate.