ANDY WARHOL - AUCTION POSTPONED FOR WARHOL'S JACKSON PORTRAIT

AUCTION POSTPONED FOR WARHOL'S JACKSON PORTRAIT

An auction of pop artist ANDY WARHOL's portrait of MICHAEL JACKSON has been put on hold due to high demand for the late King of Pop's memorabilia.
An unidentified seller paid less than $300,000 (£200,000) for the 1984 painting in May (09), just weeks before Jackson died after suffering a cardiac arrest on 25 June (09).
The artwork, which shows Jackson smiling in a red jacket inspired by his infamous Thriller costume, was expected to resell for between $1 million (£666,670) and $10 million (£6.6 million) at the Vered Gallery auction in East Hampton, New York on Sunday (19Jul09).
But an onslaught of interest from corporate buyers has forced auction officials to delay bidding.
Gallery co-owner Janet Lehr tells the New York Post, "There's no way we could have fielded all of their questions in time. A seller can say anything and even claim title to the Brooklyn Bridge. We also wanted to make sure that the buyers were qualified... We've had interest from corporate people very involved with Warhol - at the Gap, J. Crew and Sony. And everyone wants to do their due diligence."