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Pop goes Archer's Warhol art

He is likely to raise around £20m from the sale of the 42 oils and 328 acrylics works by the pop artist.

Lord Archer said he had been collecting Warhol works for "purely commercial reasons" and always intended to sell them at some stage.

But he denied he was selling the works because he was short of cash.

"No, I'm down to my last £100m," he said.

The collection of pop art has taken seven years to complete using several researchers. Pieces were tracked down as far a field as California and Australia.

Lord Archer's sale is said to have been prompted by the recent sale of Warhol's The Orange Marilyn.

It confounded expectations by fetching £10.6m at Sotheby's in New York.

The extent of Lord Archer collection of works by the leading exponent of pop art is relatively unknown.

The works will be on display at a Bruton Street gallery in London, together with 83 signed Hockney prints from the artist's private collection.

Hockney rarely shows in London and Lord Archer is confident the combined exhibition will generate enormous interest.

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