NEW YORK?A late self-portrait by "pope of pop" Andy Warhol sold for a record $32.5 million at Sotheby's in New York on Wednesday, underlining the return of big spenders to the international art market.

The stark, 1986 image of Warhol's famous face and unkempt hair was estimated to sell at between $10-15 million at the contemporary art auction.

The huge increase over that estimate was in line with the strong demand for Warhols shown Tuesday at the Spring contemporary art auction at rival Sotheby's in Manhattan.

It was the highest price paid for a self-portrait by the iconoclastic artist, who died the year after the work was executed.

According to Sotheby's, this final self-portrait by Warhol captures his "attitude toward presenting his outer self, tempting us with the thought that he might finally let us glimpse his most intimate inner self."

Another big seller was Mark Rothko's untitled abstract canvas dominated by the color red which sold for $31.4 million, up from pre-sale estimates of $18-25 million.

Jackson Pollock?s "Number 12A, 1948: Yellow, Gray, Black," sold for $8.8 million, double the low end of the $4- to 6-million estimate.

The painting featured in a famous 1949 Life magazine article titled "Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?"

The sale at Sotheby's followed a healthy performance for contemporary art at Christie's.
Also, last week at Christie's, a 1932 painting by Pablo Picasso, "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust," set the world record for an art auction at $106.5 million.

This snapped the record set just in February in London of $104.3 million for Alberto Giacometti's "Walking Man I" sculpture and confirmed a return of the bulls to a luxury market laid low by the 2008 global financial crisis.