"Longest" Bid for Warhol Self-Portrait

A Christie's auction of post-war and contemporary art ended with a bang Wednesday night when a self portrait of pop-art icon Andy Warhol sold for $38.45 million after a 16-minute bidding war.

Following the sale of the piece, the auctioneer exclaimed it was the “longest lot in history.”

According to Forbes, an unidentified European buyer purchased the portrait, signed and dated "Andy Warhol/64.'" It's also signed to Detroit art collector Florence Barron, who bought the piece originally for $1,600.

Another Warhol self-portrait, a later work from 1986, was estimated to be its best selling item, but it was acquired by Warhol collector Jose Mugrabi for $24.5 million, plus auction house fees.

In all, 62 of 65 of the items sold for a total $301.7 million. Other pieces included Mark Rothko's Untitled No. 17, which sold for $33.68 million, and Francis Bacon's Three Studies for Self-Portrait went for $25.82 million.