Pop goes the budget: Roy Lichtenstein works expected to raise £26m at auction

Forty works from the private collection of Roy Lichtenstein, one of the world's best-known pop artists, will go on sale for the first time at auction next month. The works, comprising paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, chart four decades of Lichtenstein's career. They include his shift from abstract expressionism to pop art in the 1960s, his exploration of modern art in the 70s, his Reflections series of the 80s, and his interiors and nudes from the 90s.

View image in fullscreen New photos from Sotheby's give a rare glimpse into Lichtenstein's home studio. Photograph: Art © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein The collection is expected to make more than $35m (£26m) when it is auctioned by Sotheby's in New York next month. Several of the works come from Lichtenstein and his wife Dorothy's home in Southampton, New York, where the artist created some of his most significant works.



View image in fullscreen Woman: Sunlight, Moonlight (1996). Photograph: Art © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein Recent photos taken by Sotheby's offer a rare look inside the light-filled studio that formed part of the residence, which was only accessible to the artist's closest circle during his lifetime and was rarely photographed. David Galperin, the head of contemporary art at Sotheby's New York, said the works "provide a front-row seat to Lichtenstein's incomparable genius.

Together, the...

Nadia Khomami.