26-11-2010 Auction house Christie's is auctioning off US pop artist Andy Warhol's pink portrait of Queen Beatrix.

Christie's expects the work will fetch between 300,000 and 500,000 euros.


Andy Warhol painted the portrait in 1985 as part of his series Reigning Queens, which consisted of four female monarchs: Beatrix of the Netherlands, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Margrethe II of Denmark and Ntombi laTfwala of Swaziland. Christie's says Warhol praised the Dutch queen as the most beautiful of the four.

The auction is scheduled for 30 November. Portraits from the series Reigning Queens have been sold in large numbers as screen prints, but the original paintings are rarely put up for auction.