Andy Warhol's Human-Sized Painting Of A Cola-Cola Bottle Could Sell For $60 Million

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CHRISTIE'S IMAGES LTD. 2013

Andy Warhol's iconic "Coca Cola (3)" painting could sell for as much as $60 million at an upcoming Christie's auction.

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The black-and-white painting, featuring an old-fashioned Coca-Cola bottle the size of a man, was hand-painted by the artist in 1962 and is one of his most iconic works.

According to Bloomberg's Katya Kazakina, the painting is being consigned by the Mugrabi family, which famously owns the world's largest collection of Warhols - some 800 works, many of which are stored in a warehouse in Newark, NJ.

The Mugrabis reportedly bought the work from billionaire Si Newhouse in 1995. It is expected to sell for between $40 and $60 million at Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art sale in New York City on November 12th.

Coke bottles were a common theme among Warhol's works, which often featured popular brands and celebrities.

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The artist once said of the product: "What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it."

Another Warhol painting of a Coke bottle sold for $35.4 million to hedge-fund manager and avid art collector Steve Cohen at a 2010 Sotheby's auction, according to Kazakina.