Andy Warhol's Elizabeth Taylor work sells for £6.7m

The artwork had been expected to sell for up to £8 million

An Andy Warhol portrait of screen legend Dame Elizabeth Taylor has sold for £6.7m to an anonymous bidder at an auction in London.

Silver Liz was created in 1963 and had not been seen in public for more than 20 years before it went on display earlier this month.

In 2007 the artwork sold for £11.4m at a sale in New York.

The portrait was one of 12 paintings of the actress which Warhol created while she was recovering from illness.

It had been expected to sell for between £6 million and £8 million.

Auction house Christie's said the artwork is one of only two Warhol portraits to show the actress with her famous violet eyes.

The Post-War and Contemporary Evening Auction, which took place on Wednesday, fetched a total of £45.64 million.

An 1999 artwork called Loopy, by Jeff Koons, sold for £3.4 million - a record for the artist at auction.

Mappa, 1989 by Alighiero Boetti, set a new auction record for the Italian conceptual artist of £1.8m.