A painting by pop artist Andy Warhol, "200 One Dollar Bills," brought $43.8 million at auction, more than three times its highest presale estimate of $12 million.

The piece, one of Warhol's first silk-screen paintings, sold at Sotheby's on Nov. 11, 2009. The auction house did not reveal the names of the buyer and seller.

Bidding for the seminal work was spirited and fast. Auctioneer Tobias Meyer opened bidding at $6 million, which was immediately doubled. Five more people in the room jumped in, competing until a phone bidder was declared the winner.

The current record for a Warhol is $71.7 million for "Green Car Crash, sold at Christie's in 2007.

Executed in 1962, the painting was once owned by taxi tycoon Robert C. Scull, who purchased it directly from Warhol's dealer. The current owner bought it in 1986 for $385,000.

It was the highest price fetched at the Contemporary Art sale, which totaled $134.4 million, well above the high presale total of $97.7 million.

Other Warhol paintings also drew strong prices.

His 1965 "Self-Portrait," which the artist gave to Cathy Naso, a receptionist who worked at his Factory, sold for $6.1 million. It had been estimated to sell for $1 million to $1.5 million. Naso, who attended the auction, was 19 years old when Warhol gave her the painting inscribed to her. She displayed it briefly and then stored it in a closet, where it remained until this year.

"I think I am dreaming," Naso said. "Andy has made me famous for 15 minutes and I've come to realize that 15 minutes of fame is more than enough."

A New York art gallery has temporarily removed an Andy Warhol portrait of Michael Jackson from the auction block. The Vered Gallery in East Hampton says enormous interest prompted the decision. The auction was to close Sunday.

The 30-by-26-inch painting shows a smiling Jackson in a red jacket from his Thriller days. Pre-sale estimates ranged anywhere from $1 million to $10 million.

There's renewed interest in all things Jackson since his death. His albums are back at the top of the charts.

Gallery co-owner Janet Lehr says in a statement she wants to offer the 1984 work to "the greatest number of prospective purchasers." She did not immediately return inquiries for comment Monday. The portrait is reportedly owned by a New York collector.
 

Celebrated French mime Marcel Marceau left his mark on the world through silence, but his earthly belongings are generating a great deal of noise these days. On Wednesday, Parisian auction house Drouot began the second and final day of bidding on artwork, books, manuscripts and costumes Marceau left behind when he died at the age of 87 in Sept. 2007.

"We have 4,200 over here — certainly an original Marceau merits another bid!" prodded auctioneer Rodolphe Tessier as he stoked the bidding on Marceau's painting The Audience Observing from a reserve price of €800 ($1,080) toward its final sale at €11,000 ($14,850). "Estimating the value of such rare objects as these is impossible — it's the bidding that will determine the price!"

Critics say the bazaar-like atmosphere is hardly fitting. They note that the auction was court-ordered with the limited objective of reimbursing $405,000 in debt Marceau racked up at the end of his life to finance his shows. To ensure that sum was obtained, the auctioneers set astonishingly low opening prices so everything would find a taker.

"This is reducing the artistic legacy of a man to a fixed sum to be paid off," says Stephan Martell, who worked as Marceau's musical director. "For those of us who knew Marcel and how he lived his life and art as one, this random dispersal of his possessions is very painful."

To mitigate that anguish, Martell and long-time Marceau assistant Valérie Bochenek formed the association A Museum for Bip — a reference to the mime's famous sailor-suited character. Its initial aim was to raise $135,000 and buy as many of Marceau's most artistically significant relics as possible — including Bip's trademark costume (for which bids opened on Wednesday at a mere $1,350). Despite collecting over 3,000 signatures of support in less than two weeks, Martell acknowledges the group got significantly less money than hoped for. Still, during Tuesday's auctioning, Bochenek made 10 successful bids worth nearly $7,560.
 

Has Dog’s Playing Poker or Velvet Elvis run the course in your home? Then you’re in luck, because it’s time to upgrade with a nude painting of Madonna with her ex-husband Guy Ritchie.

I know ... nude Madonna? Isn’t that the equivalent of bright sun or wet rain? Not exactly a shocker. But it was this story or something about Mexico approving bidding rules for wireless auctions.

Artist Peter Howson’s controversial depiction of the former couple in oil was painted in 2005. It is expected to fetch up to $35,000 when it goes under the hammer at the McTear’s Scottish Contemporary Art Auction in Glasgow on Saturday from a private collector. Howson has produced several portraits of the pop icon in a state of undress.

The painting depicts a very manly Madonna being groped by Ritchie who looks more like a cross between Mike Tyson and Vinnie Jones (X-Men: The Last Stand and The Midnight Meat Train). If checking out Madonna in the buff is your thing, save a few dollars and the Tums you’ll need to chew after viewing the painting, and grab a copy of her 1992 Sex book that features a little bit of everything except Ritchie.

The Material Girl and director behind Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, RocknRolla and Sherlock Holmes ended their almost 8-year marriage in November 2008.

UPDATED: 6.2.09 Failed to sell. 

As a kid, Ralph Chicorel was careful with the comic books he faithfully bought for 10 cents at the drugstore in his Detroit neighborhood.

"I loved the artwork so much that I took real good care of them. I turned the pages very carefully," the 78-year-old said. "I relished, treasured them."

Chicorel's diligence will likely pay off when 110 or so of the comics he started collecting as an 8-year-old go up for auction soon at Heritage Auction Galleries, an offering that's expected to bring in about $500,000. The sale will begin Thursday with the most important comics, followed by the rest over the weekend.

"These comic books are all very hard to find and if you do find them you're not going to find them in this kind of condition," said Maggie Thompson, senior editor of Iola, Wis.-based Comic Buyer's Guide.

"Some of these are key comics in the field," she said."

The collection boasts the likes of Batman No. 1 and Marvel Comics No. 1. The most expensive comic — expected to clear $100,000 — is the scarce Marvel Mystery Comics No. 9, noted for its cover battle between the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner — the first time two superheroes appeared in the same story, said Heritage's director of comics operations, Barry Sandoval.

UPDATED: 5.27.09 The collection sold for about $623,000 with Marvel Mystery Comics No. 9 going for $108,000.

Yoko Ono, the widow of John Lennon, unveiled a mural of clouds in the sky that will be auctioned in 67 puzzle pieces to raise funds and to mark the second annual World Autism Awareness Day.

The 76-year-old Japanese artist and musician created the seven-foot tall "Promise" mural from acrylic materials. Each of the 67 pieces of art will be auctioned with starting bids of $1,000 at charitybuzz.com/yoko.

"When I was first approached to create an artwork for autism awareness I was shocked by the worldwide prevalence of this serious situation, especially among our children," Ono said at the auction launch at the United Nations. "My work, 'Promises,' symbolizes that we all hold a piece of this puzzle and we must work to raise awareness, funds for research and advocate for families who experience autism."

The 67 pieces represent the 67 million people who have autism around the world.

With alternative metal band System of a Down on “permanent hiatus,” drummer John Dolmayan (above) has found another way to make headlines and search engines buzz. And it only cost $317,200.

An owner of a comic collection that by his account totals around 20 million, Dolmayan was identified this week as the person who bought the Holy Grail of comic books … albeit on behalf of client. Only about 100 copies of Action Comics No. 1 are known to exist. The comic, featuring Superman lifting a car, was purchased in the early 1950s for a mere 35 cents.

According to Stephen Fishler, co-owner of the auction site ComicConnect.com, it is one of the highest prices ever paid for a comic book. “Maybe in a booming economy, it would have done a hundred grand more, but in this economy, I think the price is great,” Fishler told the Los Angeles Times.
 

The Art by Animals 2 charity auction benefiting AZA is being postponed. Originally slated to take place at Busch Gardens (Tampa, Fla.) on March, 28, the auction is now being moved out to late spring or early summer.

The auction will feature unique art created by animals in zoos from across the United States. The sale of these one-of-a-kind pieces created by chimps, hyenas, penguins and other animals funds animal enrichment programs at zoos and aquariums across America.
 

Still smarting from the 2004 bomb Around the World in 80 Days, Jackie Chan didn’t exactly need a reason to go Kung-Fu Panda on someone. But following Christie’s auction of a pair of Qing dynasty bronze sculptures this week, he’s ready to remove croissants from his eating regimine.

At the heart of the issue are two sculptures … a rabbit and rat … that were stolen from Beijing’s Summer Palace during the second Opium War in 1860. After years of moving from “owner” to “owner” the pieces ended up selling for £28 million. Needless to say the Chinese government and its favorite export this side of porcelain aren’t turning the other cheek.

"This behavior is shameful," Chan said. "They remain looted items, no matter whom they were sold to. Whoever took it out (of China) is himself a thief. It was looting yesterday. It is still looting today."

The buyer’s identity was not released. The Chinese government warned it would use all necessary channels to recover all relics stolen.

Maybe this means a new plot twist for Rush Hour 4.
 

The death mask of Oliver Cromwell is up for auction.

He loathed vanity so much that he insisted his portraits depict him faithfully, 'warts and all'. And even after his death, Oliver Cromwell's instructions were followed to the letter.

This death mask shows the puritanical Lord Protector of England in all his grizzled, lumpy glory. There has been no attempt to conceal the growth on his lower lip or straighten his crooked nose.

All in all, the mask doesn't make an attractive artwork ... though that probably won't bother the person who buys it this week.

The plaster cast, made around 350 years ago, has been put up for sale at auction by a private collector. It has an estimated value of £1,000, even though experts can't be sure exactly when it was made.

Roy Butler, of Wallis and Wallis auctioneers in Lewes, East Sussex, who is selling the mask, said: 'It is clearly a very old cast.

'I think six were made after Cromwell's death and this is either one of those originals or a copy made shortly afterwards.'

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