Hugh Grant is set to make UKP15 million from the sale of his Andy Warhol portrait of Elizabeth Taylor.
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The Four Weddings and a Funeral actor bought the iconic work from Sotheby’s auction house in New York for UKP2 million six years ago and it is now expected to fetch UKP17 million when it goes under the hammer next month.
The turquoise Liz – which is one of 13 images of the Cleopatra actress that Warhol made from a publicity photograph in 1963 – will head Christie’s Post War and Contemporary Art Sale at New York’s Rockefeller Centre on 13 November.
The sale comes at a time when the international art market is struggling because of financial uncertainty owing to the collapse of the US housing market.
However, insiders say Hugh has made sure his investment will be well looked after as he has managed to secure a UKP10 million sale guarantee with Christie’s.
Critics of the work have complained it is “heavy-handed” and not as sharp as the other 12 Liz portraits in the series.
Hugh’s representative has refused to comment on why the actor has decided to sell the piece.
In 2005, the scarlet Liz sold for UKP6.7million at Sotheby’s in New York.
