Why these photos of a car crash are worth $85 million

Art is sometimes incomprehensible. Because why did someone pay $85 million this week for a collage of black and white car crash photos?! Is it because the work was created by a world-renowned artist?

White Disaster (White Car Crash 19 Times), as the collage is called, is by Andy Warhol. The American is particularly known for his pop art, such as the Campbell soup can and the illustrations of Marilyn Monroe.

Andy Warhol fascinated by catastrophes and death

Warhol was shooting White Disaster in 1963. Around this time he was fascinated by the images of disaster and death printed in newspapers at the time. According to Warhol, they were so common that people became desensitized to them.

Nineteen times the same photo of a car accident

White Disaster is large, over 3.5 meters high and 1.8 meters wide.

It’s a collage of nineteen times the same photo of the aftermath of a collision. A man in a white shirt can be seen inside the car through the open door.

Disaster series with the works Suicide and Orange Car Crash

The artwork comes from an entire disaster series in which Warhol also realized the works Suicide (Purple Jumping Man) and Orange Car Crash Fourteen Times, among others.

Record sum of 105.4 million euros for Silver Car Crash

Nine years ago, a smaller version of White Disaster was auctioned: Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster). The illustration grossed a record $105.4 million. Last year someone bought a Warhol Monroe for $195 million.