The Andy Warhol classic painting `` Double Elvis ( Ferus Type ) '' sold Wednesday at Sotheby 's in New York for more than $ 37 million , the auction house said . With commission , the sale price of $ 33 million totaled $ 37,042,500 , short of the $ 50 million that Sotheby 's had predicted it might fetch . The piece ( silkscreen ink and spray paint on canvas ) shows Elvis Presley in a gunslinger pose . First exhibited in 1963 at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles , the work `` epitomizes the artist 's obsessions with fame , stardom , and the public image , '' Sotheby 's said in a release . `` Warhol 's signature style , coupled with the instantly recognizable faces of his subjects , creates a blurred boundary between artist and sitter . '' Warhol made 22 versions of the `` Double Elvis , '' nine of which are held in museums . The painting brings together two iconic figures in American culture , said Catharina Manchanda , curator of modern and contemporary art at the Seattle Art Museum , which has a `` Double Elvis '' on display . `` It 's Warhol at his very best . He gives you the celebrity playing a role within cinematic culture and asking us as viewer to confront that head-on , '' Manchanda said . `` It 's Elvis with the gun drawn . It 's a confrontational moment . '' The work is among the most famous of Warhol 's paintings of celebrities , which included Elizabeth Taylor , Jacqueline Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe . Also Roy Lichtenstein 's `` Sleeping Girl '' was sold Wednesday for $ 44.9 million . That was an auction record for a Lichtenstein piece , Sotheby 's said . Observers say the market for contemporary and modern art has been set ablaze in recent months . A version of Edvard Munch 's `` The Scream '' brought an auction record of $ 119 million at Sotheby 's on May 2 , and a Mark Rothko painting `` Orange , Red , Yellow '' sold Tuesday at Christie 's for nearly $ 87 million . Art dealers say the stratospheric rise in art prices is being propelled by wealthy investors from abroad . Wednesday night 's winning bid for the Warhol painting came in over the phone ; the buyer 's name was not divulged . Still , the buy set no records . The top price for a Warhol painting is $ 71,720,000 . As for Warhol , who famously said , `` Making money is art and working is art , and good business is the best art , '' the prices his works are commanding would have been thrilling , Manchanda said . `` He would be amazed and excited to see what 's happening , '' she added . Alas , Warhol died in 1987 after undergoing routine gallbladder surgery at what was then known as New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center , three blocks south of Sotheby 's on New York 's Upper East Side . He was 58 .
New : Lichtenstein 's `` The Scream '' sells for $ 50 million . `` Double Elvis '' considered among the most famous of Andy Warhol 's paintings of celebrities . Price is short of the $ 44.9 million that Sotheby 's had predicted it might fetch . Warhol , who died in 1987 , made two versions of `` Double Elvis '' paintings .