"Pope of Pop" Warhol comes to Singapore

SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - Over 100 works by Andy Warhol will make their public debut in Singapore on Saturday, the first exhibition of its size of the Pop Art icon's work in the Asian city-state.

"A is for Andy - 20 years after Warhol" (www.aisforandy.com) includes some of the artist's most popular screen prints, such as those of Marilyn Monroe, Campbell soup cans and China's Chairman Mao. It is valued at over $10 million.

Some pieces were sold during a private preview this week, including the Mao and Monroe prints, for a total of $2 million, said Simon Cheong, chairman of SC Global, one of the organizers of the exhibition.

"We are absolutely delighted with the turnout," he said. "Many have copied Andy Warhol's style but he was the first."

The display commemorates the 20th anniversary of Warhol's death and was brought to Singapore by Cannonball Funds, a hedge fund that invests in Warhol prints and which is convinced that the boom in the art market will continue.

Auction houses are riding high on record sales for contemporary artworks, pushed by global demand and new money. In New York this week, Sotheby's scored the highest total in its history at a contemporary and postwar art auction.

(Reporting by Miral Fahmy; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)