Art News

Warhol, Katz, Henry paintings among $2.8 Million Irish bad bank auction at Christie’s

DUBLIN (REUTERS).- Ireland’s state-run “bad bank” will auction works of art by the likes of Andy Warhol and Alex Katz after it put global auction house Christies in charge of a 14-painting collection valued at up $2.8 million on Monday. Created to purge Irish banks of their risky real estate loans, the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) is selling helicopters and private jets as well as skyscrapers and five-star hotels to try and claw back the 31 billion euros ($42.7 billion) it has shelled out for the loans. NAMA’s chief executive said in July that the agency was getting tough on the lavish lifestyles of some of its debtors, many of whom became household names before a property crash brought Ireland’s “Celtic Tiger” economy to an abrupt end. Christie’s said the collection — which includes Warhol’s “Dollar Sign” painting that it values at between $400,000 and $600,000 — belonged to one NAMA