Warhol's Mao sold for £9 million

Andy Warhol's portrait of Chairman Mao sold for $17.36 million (£9.19 million) at Christie's in New York yesterday (November 16th).

In a star studded auction that contained three iconic works from the leader of the Pop Art movement, Christie's made $240 million (£127 million) worth of sales.

New price records were set for 19 artists in a fortnight that his seen Christie's and Sotheby's take $1 billion (£528.8 million) between them, according to the BBC.

Edward Dolman, chief executive at Christie's, told the AFP news agency: "Tonight's sale caps an incredible two weeks at Christie's where we have seen record totals and unprecedented depth in the market in all fields."

Warhol's Sixteen Jackies, which depicts 16 small prints of Jackie Kennedy on the day of John F Kennedy's assassination, sold for $15.6 million (£8.24 million).

The portrait of Chairman Mao was sold by a Zurich-based art collection and was purchased by Joseph Lau, a Hong Kong collector.