Hopper's bullet-riddled Warhol goes on sale

Who else could have shot Chairman Mao and got away with it, other than the late great actor, director, photographer and art connoisseur Dennis Hopper? It happened in Los Angeles in 1972 and, appropriately enough, it was a screenprint on paper by his friend Andy Warhol that took the bullets.

The print, complete with two holes, is one of 300 items from Hopper’s art collection to be auctioned next week at Christie's, New York.

"Dennis, out of the corner of his eyes, saw the Mao and he was so spooked by it that he got up and shot at it, twice, putting two bullet holes in it," Alex Hitz, a trustee of Hopper’s estate, explained to reporters. Warhol, who was present at the shooting, was quite unfazed, and later listed Hopper as a collaborator on the screenprint.

It is one of a series of prints and paintings of iconic figures of his time made by Warhol and is expected to fetch between $20,000 to $30,000. According to a US art expert contacted by The First Post, this is about $10,000 more than it would be worth without Hopper's bullet holes.

"The fact is, Hopper has left his celebrity mark on it. Comparable damage by a blue-haired art lover wielding an umbrella would have reduced its value by $10,000."

Many of the other items of Hopper ephemera going under the gavel next week will be much cheaper, with posters from Apocalypse Now and Blue Velvet expected to sell for between $300 and $500.

Hopper died aged 74 in May last year. His death sparked a battle for his estimated $60m fortune because his divorce from with his fifth wife, Victoria Duffy, had not been finalised before his death. ·