Tuesday afternoon I was fortunate enough to view some incredible pieces of art being auctioned off at Christie's in NYC. Most of these paintings/photographs have been nestled away in the homes of some very prestigious art collectors, and have not been publicly viewable until now. Thanks to my mother {who is an artist herself} we were able to get tickets to the Post-War and Contemporary Art auction. It was very inspiring, as well as breathtaking, to see original work from artists like Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko, Roy Lichtenstein, and Cindy Sherman. The highlights, in my opinion, included the auction of Mark Rothko's 'Untitled No. 17' which was sold for $33,682,500 & Andy Warhol's 'Self - Portrait' selling for a hefty $38,442,500. Those two paintings were aesthetically my favorites of the night, but Warhol's 'Self - Portrait' also has a fabulous back-story. Scroll down to view some of the amazing works auctioned off along with the 'Self- Portrait' history...and a special thanks to my mom for the rare opportunity of seeing such unbelievable one-of-a-kind pieces of art.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987)

Self-Portrait

$38,442,500

Excerpt from the Detroit Free Press "The Detroit art collector Florence Barron was known for her sense of adventure, her sharp eye and her nose for the future. In 1963, those qualities led her straight to Andy Warhol's doorstep. Warhol -- shy, eccentric, prescient -- was in the midst of discovering his greatness, morphing from a successful graphic designer into the leader of the emerging avant-garde known as Pop art. He wanted to paint Barron's portrait. She had another idea. Nobody knows who I am, she said, but everybody will want to know about you. She struck a deal: You can paint me, but only if you also paint yourself. The result was Warhol's first self-portrait, a four-panel acrylic and silkscreen in super-cool blues. She paid $1,600 -- in installments."