Warhol’s famous Grace Kelly portrait to go for €200,000 at RDS

One of Andy Warhol’s most sought after works – his iconic portrait of Grace Kelly – will be up for grabs for €200,000 in Dublin later this week, after increasing in value by over 30% in the past three years.

The price of the screenprint reflects a general rise in the market for high-end art, according to Gormleys Fine Art, which will bring it to Timeless, the Irish Antique Dealers’ Fair, starting at the RDS this Friday, September 23.

“Grace Kelly is extremely popular with collectors and investors as there are very few on sale at any one time,” said Gormleys Managing Director, Oliver Gormley.

“We sold one in 2019 for €136,000 and we expect this to sell for around €200,000 at Timeless, which reflects the appreciation in value for Warhol and high-end contemporary art.

“Art has shown a marked appreciation in value over the past few years as people have sought a safe haven in uncertain times.”

Warhol’s portrait of the actress is a testament to golden-age Hollywood glamour and based on a still from her first film, Fourteen Hours, in 1951.

The piece shows the actress looking defiantly at the camera, her face tightly cropped so that her features and golden hair form the entire foreground of the image.

Obsessed with celebrity tragedy, Warhol completed the edition in 1984, just two years after the actress’s death, aged 52.

A rare corsage crafted by master jeweller René Lalique and valued at €450,000, is also set to feature alongside Ireland’s largest selection of classic pieces at the Fair, which runs until Sunday.

It is described as the best piece of jewellery that Irish Antique Dealers’ Association President, Garret Weldon, has ever encountered.

“There is nothing to compare. This is museum quality or beyond. One cannot think of this piece without using the word masterpiece,” he said.

“This piece has never been on display and has been in the same private collection for the best part of 130 years.

“This is the elite jeweller of the era operating at the highest level. He was a poet who used his craft to express what words could not – a love poem to the world on behalf of Alice Ledru.

“Rare, special, beautiful – usually with jewellery you have to compromise, but this piece lacks nothing.

“Typically these pieces don’t come to market, and much of Lalique’s work is displayed in the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon, so to be able to bring it to the Irish public is special.”

The fair will also feature an original Brionvega RR126 record player and speaker set, identical to David Bowie’s personal model, which sold recently at Sotheby’s.

Timeless, The Irish Antique Dealers’ Fair, runs from Friday to Sunday at the RDS. More details at timelessfair.ie.