Andy Warhol painting sells for more than US$71 million at New York auction

An Andy Warhol painting sold for more than US$71 million (EUR52 million) - four times higher than the last price fetched at an auction of the pop artist's work, Christie's auction house said.

"Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)" - part of Warhol's 1963 series that drew on photographs of fatal accidents - went for US$71.7 million (EUR 52.8 million) on Wednesday, Christie's said. There was no immediate information about the buyer.

The previous record for a Warhol work was set in November, when Christie's auctioned off "Mao" for US$17.4 million (EUR12.82 million), it said.

The Wednesday sale of postwar and contemporary art was the second most-lucrative art auction ever held, taking in a total of nearly US$385 million (EUR284 million), according to Christie's.