Colossal Andy Warhol painting of a car crash could sell for over $80 million - CNN

Andy Warhol whitethorn beryllium champion known for his popular creation iconography of Marilyn Monroe, Chairman Mao and Campbell's crockery cans, but adjacent month, a "haunting" silkscreen people of a mangled car clang volition beryllium up for merchantability astatine Sotheby's successful New York. Going nether the hammer connected November 16 during the auction house's marquee week, It is expected to merchantability for upwards of $80 million, according to a property statement.

"White Disaster (White Car Crash 19 Times)" is simply a colossal representation Warhol made successful 1963 arsenic portion of his "Death and Disaster" series. At the time, Warhol had go transfixed with gruesome and morbid images — atomic weaponry clouds, electrical chairs — and however wide people publications reproduced them, believing that readers had go immune to their impact. Of each his work, the bid astir explicitly dealt with his fixation connected quality mortality.

In "White Disaster," Warhol duplicated a azygous representation of an automobile mishap 19 times successful achromatic and white. At 12 feet gangly and 6 feet wide, it is the largest of his car clang works.

"What distinguishes (the painting) is not lone its immense scale, which truly bewilders anybody who stands successful beforehand of it ... but besides its palette," explained David Galperin, Sotheby's caput of modern creation successful New York, adding that Warhol repeated his representation successful the bid successful antithetic tonalities, including lavender and orange. "It truly seems to glow, the mode that the achromatic silk surface is registered against the crisp achromatic background."

Galperin compared the piece's standard and signifier to spiritual altarpieces, referencing Warhol's Catholic upbringing and the spiritual undercurrents successful his enactment — peculiarly however spiritual icon paintings informed his personage portraits. Warhol worked connected the "Death and Disaster" bid astatine the aforesaid clip that helium was screenprinting his famed images of Monroe aft her decease successful 1962.

"These ideas of celebrity, tragedy, fame, decease — these are the themes that occupied Warhol and I deliberation that the bid helium was moving connected simultaneously, the Marilyn paintings and the "Death and Disaster paintings, are intricately linked," Galperin said.

In 2013, a smaller enactment from the series, "Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)" sold astatine Sotheby's for a record-breaking $105.4 million. It reigned arsenic Warhol's astir costly artwork until past year, erstwhile a 40-inch silkscreen of Monroe shattered the grounds for immoderate American artist, reaching $195 million.

Leading up to the sale, "White Disaster" volition grounds astatine Sotheby's New York from November 4-16. It has been held successful a backstage postulation for 25 years, and was antecedently owned by Heiner Friedrich, laminitis of Dia Art Foundation, and creation trader Thomas Ammann, according to Sotheby's. It has appeared successful large exhibitions astir Warhol and popular creation much broadly astatine Tate Museum successful London, the Museum of Modern Art successful New York, the Centre Pompidou successful Paris, and astir recently, the Walker Art Center successful Minneapolis.