The National Gallery never talks figures, financial ones anyway. But it is well aware of the value of a screenprinted painting of a young snake-hipped Elvis Presley by Andy Warhol which has been standing more than two metres high on its walls for almost 40 years.
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It's value was only emphasised this week when another Elvis from the same series by Warhol fetched more than $US37 million at an auction by Sotheby's in New York.
Warhol's Double Elvis [Ferus Type] was sold for $US37,042,500 ($A36,780,600) in the sale.
The gallery's Elvis is from the same series produced by Warhol in 1963, although it is a single image rather than a double, so probably less valuable.
The National Gallery's curator international paintings and sculpture Lucina Ward said the price achieved this week for the Double Elvis wasn't ''a huge surprise''.
''After all, the pre-sale estimate was $US30 to $US50 million, which just goes to emphasise how iconic these works are,'' she said.
Ms Ward said its Elvis was purchased in 1973, just a decade after it was produced.
She wouldn't reveal the purchase price of the Elvis all those years ago.
''We don't talk about acquisition prices, but let's just say when the work was acquired they were just starting to become more expensive,'' she said.
Did the gallery snag a bargain?
''A bargain? Yes, it was very good to buy an Elvis in 1973 rather than in 2012.''
And did she know the work's value now?
''Yes, but I can't tell you,'' she said.
Ms Ward said the gallery's Elvis would probably not fetch as much on the open market as the Double Elvis.
''They're much watched because the majority are in public collections now and those double ones are particularly admired, because it emphasises the printing process,'' she said.
A still of Presley appearing in the western Flaming Star was screenprinted by Warhol 28 times in black paint on to a roll of silver-painted canvas in various combinations - singly, superimposed doubly and triply, and in pairs.
Sotheby's said of the 22 works in the Elvis series, nine were in museum collections, including the National Gallery.
This was the first Double Elvis to appear on the market since 1995.
Bloomberg reported this week that Christie's sold a similar painting, Single Elvis [Ferus Type], in 2004 for $3.4 million
Ms Ward said the gallery was always reviewing its insurance premiums as most of its art was always increasing in value.
''There's a constant process. That is part of our role to watch the auction records and see what works come up for sale,'' she said.
''We don't immediately revalue something just because a work achieves a high amount at auction.''
