Andy Warhol's "Green Car Crash" 1963 is set to go to auction on the 16th of this month; the pre-sale estimate is $25-$35 million. What makes "Green Car Crash" so important? Well, it was painted during the time of Warhol's life when he was actually concerned with art and social commentary instead of marketing. "Green Car Crash" is composed of a repeated image of an actual news story. In a fiery car crash a man had been ejected from his vehicle and impaled on a pole. He received no help from witnesses, and if you look closely there is a man strolling behind the reckage with his hands in his pockets. The repetition of this image implies a disregard for human life. It's a theme Warhol explored during his Death and Disaster series, in which he created images of electric chairs, ambulances, and car crashes. What makes this painting stand apart from the rest of the series is that it was done in color while the others were simply black and white. For a collector it would be a prize piece, and for a museum it would be an acquisition worth the splurge. The likely hood that a museum will be able to afford the work is doubtful though, and I look forward to seeing if it becomes a piece in another private collection or if it will become something the public will be able to enjoy.
