'Trump Descending an Escalator': Trump painting may fetch $750,000 at auction
The image riffs on Trump’s famous 2015 escalator ride at Trump Tower in New York when he announced he was running for president
New York based artist Dana Schutz finished a painting of Donald Trump in 2017, titled, "Trump Descending an Escalator," that depicts a familiar stocky figure with bulging eyes riding down a golden escalator.
The work is a highlight of the 20th century and contemporary art at an auction by Philips being held in London, just two weeks before the US election, reports Bloomberg.
About 7-feet-tall and 6-feet-wide, it will be offered in London on October 20, with an estimate of 380,000 pounds to 580,000 pounds ($750,000).
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"Dana Schutz is one of the most significant painters of her generation and she has never shied away from challenging or hot button subjects," said Robert Manley, deputy chairman at Phillips.
The work touches "on a dizzying array of politics, art history and pop art."
The image riffs on Trump's famous 2015 escalator ride at Trump Tower in New York when he announced he was running for president.
The moment became fodder for late-night comedians and made a cameo appearance on "The Simpsons." It's also a nod to "Nude Descending a Staircase," a 1912 canvas by Marcel Duchamp.
Schutz, 44, is known for large and bold figurative canvases that re-imagine historic and mundane situations, often by adding elements of the absurd. She created the Trump work for a fundraiser at Petzel gallery in New York in January 2017.
"I don't really make super-topical paintings," Schutz later said about the Trump painting in a New Yorker interview.
"But I wanted to get that moment of suspense, when you know something is going to happen and there's nothing you can do to stop it."
While not overtly political, Schutz's work has sparked controversy.
