Andy Warhol portraits of queen Beatrix auctioned for €271,000

Four screen prints with portraits of queen Beatrix by Andy Warhol fetched 217,000 euros at an art auction in The Hague. The signed and numbered works from the Reigning Queens series were sold to a foreign art lover, the Venduehuis in The Hague announced on Thursday.

Warhol created the images of Beatrix in 1985 as part of a series in which he portrayed the four reigning queens in the world at the time. Except for Beatrix, these were Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Margrethe of Denmark, and Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland. Dutchman George C.P. Mulder suggested the idea for the series to Warhol in 1985 in a New York bar. He later edited the series as well.

According to the auction house, there was a great deal of national and international interest in the series before the auction. "We have been called and emailed from almost all over the world. But these are exceptional artworks by an equally great artist," said Peter Meefout, director of the Venduehuis.