NEW YORK, NY.- artnet Auctions is pleased to announce Pop Tarts: Portraits of Women, a sale of artworks from the 1960s to the present that demonstrate the way Pop artists have reinvented female portraiture, often with an irreverent twist. The sale features over 50 works by leading Pop artists, including Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987), Tom Wesselmann (American, 1931–2004), Russell Young (British, b.1959), Allen Jones (British, b.1937), Richard Prince (American, b.1949), Mel Ramos (American, b.1935), and Julian Opie (British, b.1958).

One of the major highlights of the sale is Andy Warhol’s stunning portrait of Grace Kelly (1984), which is estimated at US$75,000 to 85,000. Published to raise funds for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, Kelly’s hometown, this work brings the classic actress’s beauty into modern times. Warhol brings to life Kelly’s sultry, confrontational gaze with his trademark dynamic neon accents.

Also featured in the sale is a rare version of Warhol’s portrait of Jane Fonda (1982), signed by Fonda herself and estimated at US$40,000 to 50,000. The deep royal blue background of the piece frames Fonda’s face and voluminous hair, and emphasizes her vibrant red lips. Fonda, who is well known for her political activism and protest of war and violence against women, wrote “Peace, Jane Fonda” along the bottom of the image. In addition, Warhol’s iconic portraits of Jacqueline Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Greta Garbo, and Ingrid Bergman are also being offered in the sale.

Pop Tarts: Portraits of Women also includes a number of iconic artworks by Tom Wesselmann. Of particular interest is Nude (For Sedfre) (1969), an early print by the artist, created when Wesselmann was still producing his famous Great American Nude series (1961–1973). Nude (For Sedfre) reflects all of the iconic visual and ideological themes prevalent in the Great American Nude, including an overall abstraction of the nude and a sense of explicit sexuality.

A contemporary of Warhol and Wesselmann, but clearly a product of their generation, Russell Young has said of his own work, “[It is] sort of the soundtrack to my life, loves, experiences and influences.” Young’s portraits of Marilyn Monroe are among his most sought after works. Featured in the sale is a unique piece entitled I Like You, I Miss You, I Love You, I Killed You (2010), estimated at US$200,000 to 250,000. The compelling acrylic and enamel diamond dust screenprint on linen, measuring 61.8 x 192.1 inches, was exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery in London in 2010.

Another Pop-inspired Contemporary artist whose work is featured in the sale is Julian Opie. Elena and Cressie get ready for the party 6 (2011), estimated at US$7,000 to 8,000, is a perfect example of Opie’s engagement with the Pop artists of the past and of his visual interpretation of women. The black-haired female figure in the piece gazes innocently ahead while her body is cropped out of the image so that the only indication of greater context is the work’s title and her emotive expression.

Pop Tarts: Portraits of Women will include pieces from the 1960s to the present, with estimates ranging from US$2,000 to 250,000. The sale will be live on artnet Auctions from April 22 through 29, 2013, and on view here.