SONIC YOUTH - PAINTING USED FOR SONIC YOUTH ALBUM TO BE AUCTIONED

The painting that rockers SONIC YOUTH used for the cover of their landmark 1988 album DAYDREAM NATION will be auctioned in London later this month (Feb08). Gerhard Richter's 1983 photo-painting Kerze is expected to fetch more than $5 million (GBP2.5 million) when it goes on sale at Sotheby's auction house on 27 February (08). The artwork of a burning white candle in a derelict room was later appropriated for the sleeve of Sonic Youth's breakthrough double album. Sotheby's spokesperson Francis Outred says, "This is a unique collaboration of a painter that people want with an album cover by one of the greatest American bands of all time. "The fact this is the very picture that was used - taken from a series of 20 paintings - makes it even more special."