Even if Alice Cooper wasn’t already a successful rock legend, he’s definitely set for retirement now.  This fall, he’s auctioning off an Andy Warhol that he’d forgotten he’d owned — and it could fetch as much as $4.5 million.

The Warhol is a red, acrylic and silkscreen of the late artist’s Little Electric Chair, from his Death and Disaster series from 1964-1965.  Alice found it, still in perfect condition, in the garage of his house in Scottsdale, Arizona a few years ago. 

“This silkscreen was given to me during some crazy years and I had completely forgotten I even owned it,” said Cooper in a statement.  “I met Andy Warhol when I lived in New York City, and it was just when I was becoming the scourge of rock n’ roll and of course that attracted the whole Warhol crowd.”  He adds that his girlfriend at the time was “really connected into” Warhol’s crew.

Then, a few years ago, Cooper says he was talking to actor Dennis Hopper, who said he was selling a couple of his Warhols, which jogged his memory.

“I said, ‘Wait a minute I think I have a Warhol somewhere.’ So I went digging around and found it…it had lived by itself for many years,” notes Alice.

So why sell it?  “I figured I’d had it for all this time and had almost forgotten about it – let’s let someone else really enjoy it,” he explains

The work will be up for sale October 23 via Larsen Gallery in Scottsdale, and is expected to fetch between $2.5 million and $4.5 million.  A portion of the gallery’s commission will go to Cooper’s Solid Rock Foundation charity.

If you want to register to bid, visit larsenartauction.com or contact the gallery at 480-941-0900.

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