The National Asset Management Agency (Nama) successfully entered the international art market in New York last night when three paintings seized from failed property developer Derek Quinlan went under the hammer at a Christie’s auction in Manhattan’s Rockefeller Plaza.
Two of the paintings sold – raising a total of $857,000; the third failed to sell.
The propitiously titled Dollar Sign by American artist Andy Warhol made $782,500 (€573,600). The painting, which measures 20in by 16in and dates from 1981, had an estimate of $400,000- $600,000.