The painting that band Sonic Youth used for the cover of their 1988 album Daydream Nation is to be be auctioned in London later this month.

Gerhard Richter’s 1983 photo-painting Kerze is expected to fetch £2.5 million when it goes on sale at Sotheby’s auction house. That may be a conservative figure, given the current interest in Richter’s work. The painting of a burning white candle in a derelict room was later appropriated for the sleeve of Sonic Youth’s breakthrough double album.

Sotheby’s spokesperson Francis Outred says, “This is a unique collaboration of a painter that people want with an album cover by one of the greatest American bands of all time. “The fact this is the very picture that was used - taken from a series of 20 paintings - makes it even more special.”

Posted: 02|20|08 at 4:40 pm. Filed under: UK News.