As part of their ‘Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening’ Christie's auction house put two Andy Warhol paintings under the hammer late last night. 'Triple Elvis' sold for $81.9m, while 'Four Marlons' went for $69.6 million.

The paintings are part of the artist's series of repeating images of major celebrities, and among his most famous works.

The Elvis piece is based on a promo shot for The King's 1960 film Flaming Star, while the Brando piece uses a publicity photo from the 1953 film, The Wild One. Christie's describe the duo as "the ultimate protagonists of American popular culture."

The paintings had previously been owned by a German casino company WestSpiel, it acquired the paintings in the 1970s. The director of the casino Lothar Dunkel issued a statement explaining that the decision to sell the paintings was down to good market conditions and a current spike in demand for Warhol's work.

The two pieces were expected to sell for $120m (€96m).

Christies have their own dedicated Warhol website.