Warhol's Taylor to sell for $25m

The 1963 portrait is a classic example of Andy Warhol's work Enlarge Image

An Andy Warhol painting of Dame Elizabeth Taylor is expected to sell for more than $25m (£11.9m) at an auction in New York.

The 1963 portrait, called Liz, is one of 12 paintings of the actress which Warhol created while Dame Elizabeth was recovering from an illness.

According to reports, the portrait belongs to British actor Hugh Grant.

A spokesman for Christie's, which is handling the sale, said it belonged to a "private collector".

Warhol created the portraits around the same time he produced similar works of Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy.

In May a new record for a Warhol piece was set after a painting of a car crash sold for $71.7m (£36.3m) in New York.

The 1963 painting, Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I), depicted an overturned car on fire.

The sale beat the previous auction record for work by the pop art pioneer, set last November when a painting of Chairman Mao sold for $17.4m (£8.8m).