[Source: Reuters]

A portrait of actress Madeleine Carroll, who was considered the first “Hitchcock Blonde”, is headed for auction next month, with a price estimate of around $60,000 – $87,000.

Hungarian artist Philip Alexius de Laszlo painted the portrait in 1935, the same year Carroll starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s spy thriller film “The 39 Steps”.

Carroll, who was also in Hitchcock’s 1936 film “Secret Agent” and soon after became one of the world’s highest paid actresses at the time, is recognised as the director’s first blonde leading lady.

The portrait, called “Mrs Philip Astley, née Madeleine Carroll”, will be offered at Christie’s British & European Art sale on December 14 during its “Classic Week” in London, with a price estimate of 50,000 – 70,000 pounds ($62,285 – $87,200).

“This was painted when (de Laszlo) was 66, so he was a very established portraitist by that stage but he was extremely keen to paint her because she was such a star,” Peter Brown, senior director in the British and European art department at Christie’s, told Reuters.