Celebrities by Warhol
See also : USA Warhol Later Warhols The Man Groups
Chronology : 1960-1969 1962 1963 1966 1970-1979 1972
Chronology : 1960-1969 1962 1963 1966 1970-1979 1972
1962 Men in her Life by Warhol
2010 SOLD for $ 63M including premium by Phillips de Pury
narrated in 2020
The artistic language explored by Andy Warhol in 1962 is absolutely new. Objects from the mass consumption have their place in art in the form of series because they constitute an imaginary world understandable by everybody, and too bad if it is trivial. When he appreciates the advantage of screen printing to flood the art world with his pictures, he multiplies the dollars, more precisely the images of banknotes.
The world is fake and the celebrities are ephemeral. Warhol multiplies the Marilyns after the death of the actress as if she were a new Madonna. It is not enough for him. He will attack both the artificial life of the stars and the lies of photographs and newspapers.
Precisely, an article published by Life on April 13, 1962 summarizes the pathetic trajectory of the top movie star of the moment, Liz Taylor. After two divorces, she had been the widow of Mike Todd and it is clear that her fourth marriage, with Eddie Fisher, will not last. One of the photos cut from Life had been taken at the Epsom Derby in 1957. It shows two married couples whose destinies will soon collapse, Todd and Taylor and Fisher with Debbie Reynolds.
Made in the fall of 1962, Men in her Life is a black and white silkscreen on canvas 215 x 212 cm based on that happy image which is copied 38 times in seven rows. The artist varied the contrasts, from saturated to clear. A classic reading from left to right and from top to bottom transforms this unique theme into an agonizing narration, with a gradual deterioration in the quality of the image and in its cropping and with the jagged appearance of the right edge.
The variety of contrasts and framings opens the way for the Elvis Ferus-type of the following year. The title makes the actress appear as a man-eater, anticipating the morbid atmosphere of Death and Disaster and especially the mosaics of images of Car Crash, also from 1963. Again in 1963 the seriously ill Liz will succeed Marilyn in Warhol's pantheon.
Men in her Life was sold for $ 63M including premium by Phillips de Pury on November 8, 2010, lot 15. The low definition image is shared by Wikipedia for fair use.
The world is fake and the celebrities are ephemeral. Warhol multiplies the Marilyns after the death of the actress as if she were a new Madonna. It is not enough for him. He will attack both the artificial life of the stars and the lies of photographs and newspapers.
Precisely, an article published by Life on April 13, 1962 summarizes the pathetic trajectory of the top movie star of the moment, Liz Taylor. After two divorces, she had been the widow of Mike Todd and it is clear that her fourth marriage, with Eddie Fisher, will not last. One of the photos cut from Life had been taken at the Epsom Derby in 1957. It shows two married couples whose destinies will soon collapse, Todd and Taylor and Fisher with Debbie Reynolds.
Made in the fall of 1962, Men in her Life is a black and white silkscreen on canvas 215 x 212 cm based on that happy image which is copied 38 times in seven rows. The artist varied the contrasts, from saturated to clear. A classic reading from left to right and from top to bottom transforms this unique theme into an agonizing narration, with a gradual deterioration in the quality of the image and in its cropping and with the jagged appearance of the right edge.
The variety of contrasts and framings opens the way for the Elvis Ferus-type of the following year. The title makes the actress appear as a man-eater, anticipating the morbid atmosphere of Death and Disaster and especially the mosaics of images of Car Crash, also from 1963. Again in 1963 the seriously ill Liz will succeed Marilyn in Warhol's pantheon.
Men in her Life was sold for $ 63M including premium by Phillips de Pury on November 8, 2010, lot 15. The low definition image is shared by Wikipedia for fair use.
1962 The White Marilyn
2014 SOLD 41 M$ including premium
Andy Warhol, the painter of Coca Cola bottles and Campbell's cans, finished his first solo exhibition in July 1962 in Los Angeles. He immediately set to develop a quick and repeatable technique to produce paintings : silkscreen printing over a painted surface.
With such a process, Warhol could make multiple images either dispositioned side by side on the same canvas or featured in different colors on separated canvas.
He made his first trials with photographs of two young actors, Troy Donahue and Warren Beatty. The sudden death of Marilyn Monroe occured just at that time. Warhol understood that the image of the actress was a perfect theme for the development of his art.
The Quadruple Marilyn 74 x 55 cm overall that sold for $ 38M including premium at Phillips on May 16, 2013 can be described as a prototype with two applications of screen printing, one above and one below the acrylic layer, in order to improve the contrast of the image.
This technique did not meet the productivity required by Warhol. The series of twelve single Marilyn 51 x 41 cm are made with a single screen printing over acrylic paints of various colors. Two of these paintings are monochromatic. They are the precursors of the universal imaging conceived by Warhol.
The White Marilyn is estimated $ 12M, for sale by Christie's in New York on May 13. Here are two results for colored variants. The Lemon Marilyn was sold for $ 28M including premium at Christie's on May 18, 2007. The Orange Marilyn was sold for $ 16.3 million including premium at Christie's on November 15, 2006.
This series of twelve is contemporary with the Gold Marilyn currently at the MoMA, where the single silkscreen portrait surrounded by a halo occupies the center of a monumental canvas 211 x 145 cm.
That fabulous Gold Marilyn confirms that Warhol chose the theme of Marilyn through a mystical impulse and not by worldliness or desire to shock. A deep believer, he will come much later to religious iconography, preferring to show a preaching Christ rather than dying on the cross. His choice of an early picture of a Marilyn resplendent before the tragic events of her life matches the same idea.
POST SALE COMMENT
Forget the estimate. The highly important White Marilyn was sold for $ 41 M including premium.
With such a process, Warhol could make multiple images either dispositioned side by side on the same canvas or featured in different colors on separated canvas.
He made his first trials with photographs of two young actors, Troy Donahue and Warren Beatty. The sudden death of Marilyn Monroe occured just at that time. Warhol understood that the image of the actress was a perfect theme for the development of his art.
The Quadruple Marilyn 74 x 55 cm overall that sold for $ 38M including premium at Phillips on May 16, 2013 can be described as a prototype with two applications of screen printing, one above and one below the acrylic layer, in order to improve the contrast of the image.
This technique did not meet the productivity required by Warhol. The series of twelve single Marilyn 51 x 41 cm are made with a single screen printing over acrylic paints of various colors. Two of these paintings are monochromatic. They are the precursors of the universal imaging conceived by Warhol.
The White Marilyn is estimated $ 12M, for sale by Christie's in New York on May 13. Here are two results for colored variants. The Lemon Marilyn was sold for $ 28M including premium at Christie's on May 18, 2007. The Orange Marilyn was sold for $ 16.3 million including premium at Christie's on November 15, 2006.
This series of twelve is contemporary with the Gold Marilyn currently at the MoMA, where the single silkscreen portrait surrounded by a halo occupies the center of a monumental canvas 211 x 145 cm.
That fabulous Gold Marilyn confirms that Warhol chose the theme of Marilyn through a mystical impulse and not by worldliness or desire to shock. A deep believer, he will come much later to religious iconography, preferring to show a preaching Christ rather than dying on the cross. His choice of an early picture of a Marilyn resplendent before the tragic events of her life matches the same idea.
POST SALE COMMENT
Forget the estimate. The highly important White Marilyn was sold for $ 41 M including premium.
1962 Four Dazzling Marilyns
2013 SOLD for $ 38M including premium
2015 SOLD for $ 36M including premium
PRE 2015 SALE DISCUSSION
Warhol's Four Marilyns was sold for $ 38M including premium by Phillips on May 16, 2013, lot 23. I invite you to watch the video shared by the auction house before the sale.
This painting comes now for sale at Christie's in New York on November 10, lot 20B with a minimum price guarantee which is not released, as usual in such a case.
Here is how I introduced this artwork in 2013.
Andy Warhol, a former advertising illustrator turned artist, is very busy at the beginning of 1962. The mockery with which he displays the best loved consumer objects made in America becomes the thread of an exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles. Around the same time, he experiments his technique assisted by silkscreen that will allow him to increase his output as if his paintings were posters.
Marilyn's death on August 5 is a major shock to the American dream. Magazines explore frantically the last periods of her life. With opportunity, Andy understands that this tragic event will allow him to expand his themes beyond cats and soup cans.
Marilyn was dazzling. Andy chooses a film still made in 1952 to exalt his new posthumous muse. He copies the same image four times, in two columns and two rows, for a total size that now would seem small, 73 x 55 cm. In addition to the nice smile, the yellow hair before the orange background is expressing that death should not take its toll on the actress.
This is still a time for experiment. To enhance the graphic quality, Andy passes a second silkscreened layer over the acrylic. He shall quickly abandon this refinement which was not conducive to the rapid diversification wished by him for his art. This 'Four Marilyns' is one of the very first in the series devoted by Andy to this picture of the actress.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's.
Warhol's Four Marilyns was sold for $ 38M including premium by Phillips on May 16, 2013, lot 23. I invite you to watch the video shared by the auction house before the sale.
This painting comes now for sale at Christie's in New York on November 10, lot 20B with a minimum price guarantee which is not released, as usual in such a case.
Here is how I introduced this artwork in 2013.
Andy Warhol, a former advertising illustrator turned artist, is very busy at the beginning of 1962. The mockery with which he displays the best loved consumer objects made in America becomes the thread of an exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles. Around the same time, he experiments his technique assisted by silkscreen that will allow him to increase his output as if his paintings were posters.
Marilyn's death on August 5 is a major shock to the American dream. Magazines explore frantically the last periods of her life. With opportunity, Andy understands that this tragic event will allow him to expand his themes beyond cats and soup cans.
Marilyn was dazzling. Andy chooses a film still made in 1952 to exalt his new posthumous muse. He copies the same image four times, in two columns and two rows, for a total size that now would seem small, 73 x 55 cm. In addition to the nice smile, the yellow hair before the orange background is expressing that death should not take its toll on the actress.
This is still a time for experiment. To enhance the graphic quality, Andy passes a second silkscreened layer over the acrylic. He shall quickly abandon this refinement which was not conducive to the rapid diversification wished by him for his art. This 'Four Marilyns' is one of the very first in the series devoted by Andy to this picture of the actress.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's.
1963 The King and the Bad Boy
2014 SOLD for $ 82M including premium
After exploiting the adoration of the public for two actresses, Marilyn and Liz, Andy Warhol looked at the male actors. OnNovember 12 in New York, Christie's sells two of his most outstanding works in this theme, the Triple Elvis (Ferus Type) and the Quadruple Marlon. Both men, each in his own way, embodied the rebellion of the younger generation.
The 1963 exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles gave an opportunity for the artist to prepare multiple images of the King on a silver background that evoked the movie screen. On 9 May 2012, Sotheby's sold for $ 37M including premium a Double Elvis (Ferus Type), 208 x 122 cm, for which the inequality of density of the two identical figures brings a feeling of frenzy.
For the Triple Elvis, lot 9 of the next sale, 208 x 173 cm, the three overlapping figures are of equal density but the momentum is provided by their unequal interval.
To honor Marlon in 1966, Andy uses an untreated canvas that enhances the brilliance. On most images, rarer than Elvis, the Bad Boy is a rebel confined to the right side of the canvas.
A Double Marlon 213 x 243 cm, was sold for $ 32M including premium at Christie's on 13 May 2008. The Four Marlons, lot 10 of the next sale, 206 x 165 cm, is the only in this series for which the image occupies the entire surface in two rows of two pictures.
Both lots, to be sold separately, come from a German collection built for decorating a casino. The press release of September 10 announced a global estimate in the region of $ 130M for the two lots.
I invite you to play the two videos shared by Christie's: Elvis andMarlon.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM
Triple Elvis : 82M
Four Marlons : 70M
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
The 1963 exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles gave an opportunity for the artist to prepare multiple images of the King on a silver background that evoked the movie screen. On 9 May 2012, Sotheby's sold for $ 37M including premium a Double Elvis (Ferus Type), 208 x 122 cm, for which the inequality of density of the two identical figures brings a feeling of frenzy.
For the Triple Elvis, lot 9 of the next sale, 208 x 173 cm, the three overlapping figures are of equal density but the momentum is provided by their unequal interval.
To honor Marlon in 1966, Andy uses an untreated canvas that enhances the brilliance. On most images, rarer than Elvis, the Bad Boy is a rebel confined to the right side of the canvas.
A Double Marlon 213 x 243 cm, was sold for $ 32M including premium at Christie's on 13 May 2008. The Four Marlons, lot 10 of the next sale, 206 x 165 cm, is the only in this series for which the image occupies the entire surface in two rows of two pictures.
Both lots, to be sold separately, come from a German collection built for decorating a casino. The press release of September 10 announced a global estimate in the region of $ 130M for the two lots.
I invite you to play the two videos shared by Christie's: Elvis andMarlon.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM
Triple Elvis : 82M
Four Marlons : 70M
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
1963 Elvis after the Soup
2019 SOLD for $ 53M including premium
There is indeed a place for contemporary art in Los Angeles. In 1957 Walter Hopps founds the Ferus Gallery. Ferus is a word that sounds good and is easily spelled, like Kodak used to be for Eastman. In New York around Castelli, Pop Art becomes the wonder of the time. Irving Blum joins Ferus and ensures from 1958 the link with the east coast.
In 1962 Blum exhibits at Ferus the complete series of 32 Campbell's Soup Cans by Andy Warhol. The introduction of mechanized techniques into a creative process is incongruous and even scandalous. The promises of sale are so low that Blum buys the full set. It has not been disjointed and is currently at the MoMA.
Blum perseveres. In 1963 Ferus again dedicates an exhibition to Warhol's series. The new theme is provided by the cinema, the specialty of Los Angeles : Warhol exhibits Elvis and Liz.
In this exhibition all the images of Elvis Presley originate from a single 1960 newspaper clipping promoting a film titled Flaming Star. Featured as a cowboy, Elvis is standing full front, the gun in his right hand. This image is now identified as the Elvis - Ferus Type.
Andy made all these impressions on a silver paint which symbolises the screen of a movie theater. He prepares them as a single roll 2.08 m high. The images are irregularly spaced and sometimes overlapping. The artist sends the uncut roll to Ferus with the frames, with no other instruction than to make a very dense display of all this set. He has too much work to participate in the mounting and refuses Blum's invitation.
22 Ferus Type paintings have survived, with single, double or multiple figures. A Triple was sold for $ 82M including premium by Christie's on November 12, 2014. An unusual Double with one of the images in a poor impression was sold by Sotheby's on May 9, 2012 and by Christie's on May 17, 2018, each time for $ 37M including premium.
A Double Elvis in a normally contrasted overlapping, 208 x 122 cm, is estimated $ 50M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 15, lot 23 B.
In 1962 Blum exhibits at Ferus the complete series of 32 Campbell's Soup Cans by Andy Warhol. The introduction of mechanized techniques into a creative process is incongruous and even scandalous. The promises of sale are so low that Blum buys the full set. It has not been disjointed and is currently at the MoMA.
Blum perseveres. In 1963 Ferus again dedicates an exhibition to Warhol's series. The new theme is provided by the cinema, the specialty of Los Angeles : Warhol exhibits Elvis and Liz.
In this exhibition all the images of Elvis Presley originate from a single 1960 newspaper clipping promoting a film titled Flaming Star. Featured as a cowboy, Elvis is standing full front, the gun in his right hand. This image is now identified as the Elvis - Ferus Type.
Andy made all these impressions on a silver paint which symbolises the screen of a movie theater. He prepares them as a single roll 2.08 m high. The images are irregularly spaced and sometimes overlapping. The artist sends the uncut roll to Ferus with the frames, with no other instruction than to make a very dense display of all this set. He has too much work to participate in the mounting and refuses Blum's invitation.
22 Ferus Type paintings have survived, with single, double or multiple figures. A Triple was sold for $ 82M including premium by Christie's on November 12, 2014. An unusual Double with one of the images in a poor impression was sold by Sotheby's on May 9, 2012 and by Christie's on May 17, 2018, each time for $ 37M including premium.
A Double Elvis in a normally contrasted overlapping, 208 x 122 cm, is estimated $ 50M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 15, lot 23 B.
1963 The King in Motion
2018 SOLD for $ 37M including premium
After the proliferation of his Marilyns in 1962 Andy Warhol tries to simulate the cinema even closer. He uses a silver paint that mimics the screens of the theaters. His signature technique based on silkscreen printing makes it easy to obtain multiple images that evoke the film strip or the movement.
There is no better candidate than the King of Rock and Roll to simulate a trepidation. Andy chooses a picture of Elvis Presley from a 1960 Western. The actor in the classic position of a movie cowboy is standing in front, legs apart and ready to shoot.
From this unique image Andy creates multiples with which he covers in a tight arrangement the walls of the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles in September and October 1963. 22 artworks of this series are extant.
Some Elvis's by Warhol more specifically offer an illusion of movement. Although the original image is unique, the layout of a multiple reminds Marey, Muybridge and the Nude descending the staircase by Duchamp. A Triple Elvis 208 x 173 cm with uneven interval between the figures was sold for $ 82M including premium by Christie's on November 12, 2014.
The Double Elvis 208 x 122 cm sold for $ 37M including premium by Sotheby's on May 9, 2012 is audacious. The big difference of contrast between the two overlapping printings creates an illusion of flicker. In discussing this artwork before that sale, I observed that the frenetic bustle of rock and roll is still perfectly personified by Warhol's Double Elvis half a century later.
That Double Elvis will be sold as lot 9 B by Christie's in New York on May 17. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
There is no better candidate than the King of Rock and Roll to simulate a trepidation. Andy chooses a picture of Elvis Presley from a 1960 Western. The actor in the classic position of a movie cowboy is standing in front, legs apart and ready to shoot.
From this unique image Andy creates multiples with which he covers in a tight arrangement the walls of the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles in September and October 1963. 22 artworks of this series are extant.
Some Elvis's by Warhol more specifically offer an illusion of movement. Although the original image is unique, the layout of a multiple reminds Marey, Muybridge and the Nude descending the staircase by Duchamp. A Triple Elvis 208 x 173 cm with uneven interval between the figures was sold for $ 82M including premium by Christie's on November 12, 2014.
The Double Elvis 208 x 122 cm sold for $ 37M including premium by Sotheby's on May 9, 2012 is audacious. The big difference of contrast between the two overlapping printings creates an illusion of flicker. In discussing this artwork before that sale, I observed that the frenetic bustle of rock and roll is still perfectly personified by Warhol's Double Elvis half a century later.
That Double Elvis will be sold as lot 9 B by Christie's in New York on May 17. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1963 The Colors of Liz
2014 SOLD for $ 31.5M including premium
Andy Warhol has built much of his initial fame with a single image of Marilyn and a single image of Liz, taken from magazines. They however did not have the same role in the development of his business.
The first Marilyns from 1962 are experimental. Andy's idea is to mix the techniques of acrylic and silkscreen. He makes his hand in a variety of processes, dimensions and positioning of the image that is sometimes already multiplied in juxtaposition on a single canvas.
The Liz selected during the summer of 1963 opens the use of paint for a multiple reproduction with fixed dimensions. She is first seen on a background of silver painting, referring to the movie screens. A first pass of screen printing provides a mark for the colors: pink skin, red mouth, turquoise eye shadows. A second screen printing brings the deep black lines and hair.
In November 1963, Andy is preparing an exhibition of 101 x 101 cm Liz's which will be similar excepted the background color. The paintings used in this exhibition are numbered from 1 to 6. Seven additional specimens were not numbered. The series is identified as the Early Colored Liz.
In the following year, Andy uses his Liz in printed editions, again with backgrounds from various colors.
The Early Colored Liz number 5 on turquoise background was sold for $ 27M including premium by Phillips de Pury on May 12, 2011. The number 1 in a too bright yellow settled at $ 20.3M including premium on November 13, 2013 at Sotheby's (sold). An unnumbered turquoise was sold for $ 23.5M including premium at Christie's on November 13, 2007.
The Early Colored Liz number 3 with green background will be sold on November 11 by Sotheby's in New York, lot 27.
The first Marilyns from 1962 are experimental. Andy's idea is to mix the techniques of acrylic and silkscreen. He makes his hand in a variety of processes, dimensions and positioning of the image that is sometimes already multiplied in juxtaposition on a single canvas.
The Liz selected during the summer of 1963 opens the use of paint for a multiple reproduction with fixed dimensions. She is first seen on a background of silver painting, referring to the movie screens. A first pass of screen printing provides a mark for the colors: pink skin, red mouth, turquoise eye shadows. A second screen printing brings the deep black lines and hair.
In November 1963, Andy is preparing an exhibition of 101 x 101 cm Liz's which will be similar excepted the background color. The paintings used in this exhibition are numbered from 1 to 6. Seven additional specimens were not numbered. The series is identified as the Early Colored Liz.
In the following year, Andy uses his Liz in printed editions, again with backgrounds from various colors.
The Early Colored Liz number 5 on turquoise background was sold for $ 27M including premium by Phillips de Pury on May 12, 2011. The number 1 in a too bright yellow settled at $ 20.3M including premium on November 13, 2013 at Sotheby's (sold). An unnumbered turquoise was sold for $ 23.5M including premium at Christie's on November 13, 2007.
The Early Colored Liz number 3 with green background will be sold on November 11 by Sotheby's in New York, lot 27.
1966 Four Marlons by Warhol
2014 SOLD for $ 70M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
Andy Warhol is an interpreter of the society of his time. He was a film buff and the pictorial images which made him famous in 1962 were a last resort. He multiplies cinematographic experiences as producer and director and announces in 1965 that he will devote himself entirely to cinema, with a clear tendency for the underground.
The star actor of the Warhol generation is Marlon Brando. In 1953 in The Wild One, Brando and his gang of bikers embody the rebellion against the established order. The young man's relentless gaze symbolizes the new force that can overturn the civilization.
Cinema occupies a large place in Warhol's pictorial art. Even Elvis, the king of music hall, is shown by an image taken from a movie. In 1963 Warhol chose an advertising image for The Wild One, showing Marlon from the front, on his motorcycle. With his leather jacket and his cap, he is the archetype of the new lawless thug. Andy then makes a single painting, on a silver background.
Warhol resumes in 1966 the theme of Marlon, with the same image. Contrary to his habits, he seems to have chosen to revisit this theme himself, without a commission from a dealer and without a prompting from a friend.
He prepares eight opuses of this Marlon by screen printing on raw unprimed linen, bringing a strange color as well as a great shine, with or without the large empty margin designed to unbalance the reading of the image. Only three of them are repeated images.
A Marlon with a left margin, 104 x 117 cm, was sold for $ 23.7M including premium by Christie's on November 14, 2012. A double Marlon 213 x 243 cm with a very wide margin on the left was sold for $ 32.5M including premium on May 13, 2008, also by Christie's.
The two by two quad 206 x 165 cm without margins has no equivalent in that theme. It was sold for $ 70M including premium by Christie's on November 12, 2014, lot 10.
The star actor of the Warhol generation is Marlon Brando. In 1953 in The Wild One, Brando and his gang of bikers embody the rebellion against the established order. The young man's relentless gaze symbolizes the new force that can overturn the civilization.
Cinema occupies a large place in Warhol's pictorial art. Even Elvis, the king of music hall, is shown by an image taken from a movie. In 1963 Warhol chose an advertising image for The Wild One, showing Marlon from the front, on his motorcycle. With his leather jacket and his cap, he is the archetype of the new lawless thug. Andy then makes a single painting, on a silver background.
Warhol resumes in 1966 the theme of Marlon, with the same image. Contrary to his habits, he seems to have chosen to revisit this theme himself, without a commission from a dealer and without a prompting from a friend.
He prepares eight opuses of this Marlon by screen printing on raw unprimed linen, bringing a strange color as well as a great shine, with or without the large empty margin designed to unbalance the reading of the image. Only three of them are repeated images.
A Marlon with a left margin, 104 x 117 cm, was sold for $ 23.7M including premium by Christie's on November 14, 2012. A double Marlon 213 x 243 cm with a very wide margin on the left was sold for $ 32.5M including premium on May 13, 2008, also by Christie's.
The two by two quad 206 x 165 cm without margins has no equivalent in that theme. It was sold for $ 70M including premium by Christie's on November 12, 2014, lot 10.
1972 From Marilyn to Mao
2015 SOLD for $ 48M including premium
Andy Warhol was not active in politics but his Democratic and popular sympathies are known. The first idol of his artistic career, Marilyn, was close to Kennedy. He multiplies her image to offer it posthumously to a modern mystic idolatry.
After 1964 Warhol significantly reduces his activity as a painter to try to become an idol for others through the show business. It was not his best idea. His trend toward the underground went against such a purpose and his temperament certainly did not favor his acceptance in the jet set.
Pushed by Bischofberger, Warhol is back to painting in 1972. He needs a new star able to match Marilyn. He hesitates on Einstein and chooses Mao.
Mao by Warhol is an American political message. Nixon announced his candidacy for a presidential re-election just before his trip to China. When shaking hands with Mao, Nixon appears as a statesman of the same importance as the Great Helmsman. This does not please Warhol.
As for Marilyn, Warhol chooses an ancient image. Unlike Marilyn, Mao's image was universally known before Warhol reused it : held up since 1949 by millions of Chinese, it illustrates the Little Red Book. It is a thorn to Nixon : watch this undemocratic idol that Americans are now invited to admire. In five sizes and all colors, the Maos of Warhol, in their official dignity, do not express any feeling.
Warhol is still working in screen print and acrylic, but his technique has changed. The brushstroke is visible, contributing to the energy of the artwork. Again, Warhol was wrong. This new process is taking too long and his art is gradually less cared when he extends the series.
The first Mao by Warhol, achieved without the help of an assistant, is indeed the best painting in that theme. This picture 208 x 145 cm is for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 11, lot 11(11-11-11). The press release of October 2 announced an estimate in the region of $ 40M.
After 1964 Warhol significantly reduces his activity as a painter to try to become an idol for others through the show business. It was not his best idea. His trend toward the underground went against such a purpose and his temperament certainly did not favor his acceptance in the jet set.
Pushed by Bischofberger, Warhol is back to painting in 1972. He needs a new star able to match Marilyn. He hesitates on Einstein and chooses Mao.
Mao by Warhol is an American political message. Nixon announced his candidacy for a presidential re-election just before his trip to China. When shaking hands with Mao, Nixon appears as a statesman of the same importance as the Great Helmsman. This does not please Warhol.
As for Marilyn, Warhol chooses an ancient image. Unlike Marilyn, Mao's image was universally known before Warhol reused it : held up since 1949 by millions of Chinese, it illustrates the Little Red Book. It is a thorn to Nixon : watch this undemocratic idol that Americans are now invited to admire. In five sizes and all colors, the Maos of Warhol, in their official dignity, do not express any feeling.
Warhol is still working in screen print and acrylic, but his technique has changed. The brushstroke is visible, contributing to the energy of the artwork. Again, Warhol was wrong. This new process is taking too long and his art is gradually less cared when he extends the series.
The first Mao by Warhol, achieved without the help of an assistant, is indeed the best painting in that theme. This picture 208 x 145 cm is for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 11, lot 11(11-11-11). The press release of October 2 announced an estimate in the region of $ 40M.
1972 A Tri-Colored Mao
2017 SOLD for $ 32.4M including premium
Anxious since the almost successful murder attempt against him in 1968, Andy Warhol changed his life : he is now a recluse and hardly works anymore. Art dealers are impatient. In 1972 Bischofberger suggests to him to find a new iconic theme.
Andy chooses the only picture in the world that has been distributed in hundreds of millions of copies : the official three-color portrait of Mao Zedong which among other uses illustrates the Little Red Book. Mao succeeded for the popular imagery the unlimited multiplication that Andy had dreamed with his Marilyn's. The historic handshake between Mao and Nixon early in the same year may be just a coincidence.
Andy painted eleven similar Mao's in 1972, 208 cm high with a slightly variable width. The lines and the proportions in relation to the frame are comparable to the official image with the exception of the shadow that invades the left cheek and the chin. The artist changed the color of the tunic and of the background.
A brilliant and carefully executed picture considered as the prototype of that series, 208 x 145 cm, was sold for $ 48M including premium by Sotheby's on November 11, 2015. A Mao 208 x 155 cm was sold for $ 17.4M including premium by Christie's on November 15, 2006. On November 16 in New York, Sotheby's sells a Mao 208 x 152 cm, lot 45 estimated $ 30M.
In the following year Warhol multiplies his Mao's with smaller formats and new color variants. Mao's head, proportionally smaller, has lost the dignity of the official portrait. One of them with a dark red tunic and a black background was sold for $ 13.5M including premium by Phillips de Pury on November 15, 2012 and for $ 14.5M including premium by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015.
Andy chooses the only picture in the world that has been distributed in hundreds of millions of copies : the official three-color portrait of Mao Zedong which among other uses illustrates the Little Red Book. Mao succeeded for the popular imagery the unlimited multiplication that Andy had dreamed with his Marilyn's. The historic handshake between Mao and Nixon early in the same year may be just a coincidence.
Andy painted eleven similar Mao's in 1972, 208 cm high with a slightly variable width. The lines and the proportions in relation to the frame are comparable to the official image with the exception of the shadow that invades the left cheek and the chin. The artist changed the color of the tunic and of the background.
A brilliant and carefully executed picture considered as the prototype of that series, 208 x 145 cm, was sold for $ 48M including premium by Sotheby's on November 11, 2015. A Mao 208 x 155 cm was sold for $ 17.4M including premium by Christie's on November 15, 2006. On November 16 in New York, Sotheby's sells a Mao 208 x 152 cm, lot 45 estimated $ 30M.
In the following year Warhol multiplies his Mao's with smaller formats and new color variants. Mao's head, proportionally smaller, has lost the dignity of the official portrait. One of them with a dark red tunic and a black background was sold for $ 13.5M including premium by Phillips de Pury on November 15, 2012 and for $ 14.5M including premium by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015.
