«GOOD BUSINESS IS THE BEST ART»

David Hockney's 1967 A Bigger Splash sold in 2006 for £2.6 million. Back in 2002, Roy Lichtenstein's 1964 Happy Tears went or $7.2 million. And if you want to really dig deep, Jasper Johns's 1959 False Start commanded a staggering $80 million in 2006. As did Andy Warhol's 1964 Turquoise Marilyn (of Marilyn Monroe) in 2007. With prices like these, do the rest of us stand any chance of buying some original Pop Art? Well, the answer is a guarded "yes". Early, strictly limited edition silkscreen prints of many of these iconic works can set you back tens of thousands of pounds. But there are more accessible pieces to be tracked down as well. You can pick up a signed silkscreen print, from a limited edition of 100, of Sir Peter Blake's Got a Girl (which depicts Fabian, Avalon, Ricky Nelson, Bobby Rydell and Elvis Presley) for around £2,500. Or a signed screen print from a limited edition of 500 of his Sergeant Pepper cover for around £1,500. But when buying any fine art or high-end antiques, I would strongly recommend you cultivate a relationship with a good specialist dealer before buying in earnest.

The Telegraph
May 25 2010