John McEnroe To Sell Andy Warhol Painting For Charity

Former tennis star John McEnroe is selling an Andy Warhol portrait of himself and ex-wife Tatum O’Neal for charity next week.

The portrait – painted in 1986 when McEnroe paid over $30,000 at a charity auction to have his image captured by the artist – is expected to raise at least $687,000 at Sotheby’s in London on July 1, with proceeds going to Habitat For Humanity.

The acrylic on silkscreen portrait was painted from a photo Warhol took of the pair at their house – an event McEnroe wrote about in his 2002 autobiography: ``Was I overly impressed? A bit star-struck? Maybe. Maybe Tatum was too. It’s a funny thing when two well-known people meet: There’s an immediate magnetism, because you seem to have so many things in common — not least of which is that you both instantly feel liberated from what the rest of the world usually demands.’’

The sale will be part of Sotheby’s contemporary art auction that will be held during the second week of the Wimbledon tennis championships. The painting can be viewed at Sotheby’s website.