Celebrities by Warhol
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Top 10 USA Warhol Later Warhols Elvis and Liz The Woman
Chronology : 20th century 1960-1969 1962 1963 1964 1966 1970-1979 1972 1982
See also : Top 10 USA Warhol Later Warhols Elvis and Liz The Woman
Chronology : 20th century 1960-1969 1962 1963 1964 1966 1970-1979 1972 1982
1962 Marilyn
Intro
After his first solo exhibition in July 1962 in Los Angeles, Andy Warhol, a former advertising illustrator turned artist and the painter of Coca Cola bottles and Campbell's cans, manages to develop a quick and repeatable technique to produce paintings : silkscreen printing over a painted surface. With such a process, he will make multiple images either dispositioned side by side on the same canvas or featured in different colors on separated canvas.
He makes his first trials with photographs of teen stars, Natalie Wood, Troy Donahue and Warren Beatty. The sudden death of Marilyn Monroe on August 5 is a major shock to the American dream. Magazines explore frantically the last periods of her life.just at that time. Warhol appreciates that the image of the actress who had mingled tragedy and glamour was a perfect theme for the development of his art 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.
The seminal 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.
He makes his first trials with photographs of teen stars, Natalie Wood, Troy Donahue and Warren Beatty. The sudden death of Marilyn Monroe on August 5 is a major shock to the American dream. Magazines explore frantically the last periods of her life.just at that time. Warhol appreciates that the image of the actress who had mingled tragedy and glamour was a perfect theme for the development of his art 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.
The seminal 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.
Warhol had a daily practice of Catholicism. By spreading Marilyn's image, he possibly also referred to the global use of the Christ on the Cross as the primordial Christian image.
Andy Warhol was indeed a practicing Byzantine Catholic throughout his life, raised in a devout Ruthenian (Eastern Rite) family in Pittsburgh. He attended services regularly as a child at St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church, surrounded by gilded iconostases filled with repeated sacred images. As an adult in New York, he frequently visited churches (often several times a week, including daily stops for prayer), volunteered at soup kitchens run by religious organizations, and maintained private devotions, though he kept this side of his life largely hidden from the public eye.
Your suggestion that Warhol's multiplication of Marilyn Monroe's image might parallel the widespread, global dissemination of the Crucifixion (Christ on the Cross) as Christianity's central icon is a perceptive and well-supported interpretation in art scholarship.
Gold Marilyn as Modern IconGold Marilyn Monroe (1962) is frequently described as a direct homage to Byzantine religious icons, with its metallic gold background evoking the divine light and eternity of sacred figures (often the Virgin Mary or Christ Pantocrator). The isolated, centered portrait on a vast gold field transforms Marilyn into a secular "saint" or object of veneration, blending glamour with memorialization shortly after her death.
Repetition and Sacred Multiplication
The extreme repetition in works like the Marilyn Diptych (50 images) or later grids echoes the mass production and ubiquitous presence of Christian icons—crucifixes, Virgin Mary images, and crosses adorn churches, homes, and public spaces worldwide, repeated endlessly yet retaining devotional power. In Byzantine tradition, icons are not unique artworks but reproducible windows to the divine, often created in workshops with serial formats. Warhol's "Factory" method and serial imagery similarly elevate mass-media icons (celebrities as modern deities) while commenting on how repetition can both sacralize and desensitize.
This parallel extends to the crucifix specifically: just as the image of Christ crucified is the primordial, universally replicated symbol of sacrifice and redemption in Christianity—found in countless variations across cultures—Warhol's flooding of culture with Marilyn's face critiques (and mimics) how media turns individuals into commodified, immortal "icons" of fame, beauty, and tragedy.
Scholars note that Warhol's Catholic background informed this approach: his childhood exposure to icon screens filled with repeated holy images likely shaped his fascination with serialization as a way to explore veneration, mortality, and cultural worship. While Warhol rarely spoke explicitly about these religious ties, the visual and thematic connections are widely recognized as intentional layers in his Pop critique of American idolatry. Your reading aligns closely with these analyses, highlighting how he secularized sacred forms to reflect celebrity as a new religion.
Andy Warhol was indeed a practicing Byzantine Catholic throughout his life, raised in a devout Ruthenian (Eastern Rite) family in Pittsburgh. He attended services regularly as a child at St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church, surrounded by gilded iconostases filled with repeated sacred images. As an adult in New York, he frequently visited churches (often several times a week, including daily stops for prayer), volunteered at soup kitchens run by religious organizations, and maintained private devotions, though he kept this side of his life largely hidden from the public eye.
Your suggestion that Warhol's multiplication of Marilyn Monroe's image might parallel the widespread, global dissemination of the Crucifixion (Christ on the Cross) as Christianity's central icon is a perceptive and well-supported interpretation in art scholarship.
Gold Marilyn as Modern IconGold Marilyn Monroe (1962) is frequently described as a direct homage to Byzantine religious icons, with its metallic gold background evoking the divine light and eternity of sacred figures (often the Virgin Mary or Christ Pantocrator). The isolated, centered portrait on a vast gold field transforms Marilyn into a secular "saint" or object of veneration, blending glamour with memorialization shortly after her death.
Repetition and Sacred Multiplication
The extreme repetition in works like the Marilyn Diptych (50 images) or later grids echoes the mass production and ubiquitous presence of Christian icons—crucifixes, Virgin Mary images, and crosses adorn churches, homes, and public spaces worldwide, repeated endlessly yet retaining devotional power. In Byzantine tradition, icons are not unique artworks but reproducible windows to the divine, often created in workshops with serial formats. Warhol's "Factory" method and serial imagery similarly elevate mass-media icons (celebrities as modern deities) while commenting on how repetition can both sacralize and desensitize.
This parallel extends to the crucifix specifically: just as the image of Christ crucified is the primordial, universally replicated symbol of sacrifice and redemption in Christianity—found in countless variations across cultures—Warhol's flooding of culture with Marilyn's face critiques (and mimics) how media turns individuals into commodified, immortal "icons" of fame, beauty, and tragedy.
Scholars note that Warhol's Catholic background informed this approach: his childhood exposure to icon screens filled with repeated holy images likely shaped his fascination with serialization as a way to explore veneration, mortality, and cultural worship. While Warhol rarely spoke explicitly about these religious ties, the visual and thematic connections are widely recognized as intentional layers in his Pop critique of American idolatry. Your reading aligns closely with these analyses, highlighting how he secularized sacred forms to reflect celebrity as a new religion.
1
White
2014 SOLD for $ 41M by Christie's
The early trials do 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 global imaging desired by Warhol.
The White Marilyn was sold for $ 41M from a lower estimate of $ 12M by Christie's on May 13, 2014. Here are two results for colored variants. The Lemon Marilyn was sold for $ 28M by Christie's on May 18, 2007, lot 18. The Orange Marilyn was sold for $ 16.3M by Christie's on November 15, 2006, lot 32.
Compare Warhol's White Marilyn (1962), part of the early series of 12 and sold by Christie's on May 13, 2014, with the seminal Gold Marilyn (1962, MoMA). When and why did Warhol first have in mind the extreme multiplication of a single image ?
Comparison of White Marilyn (1962) and Gold Marilyn Monroe (1962, MoMA)
Both works are from Andy Warhol's early Marilyn Monroe series, created shortly after the actress's death on August 5, 1962, using the same source image: a publicity photograph from her 1953 film Niagara. They employ silkscreen ink on canvas, marking Warhol's shift to mechanical reproduction techniques that mimic mass media and consumer culture.
When and Why Warhol First Conceived Extreme Multiplication of a Single Image
Warhol's idea of extreme multiplication—repeating a single image dozens or hundreds of times to evoke mass production, desensitization, and consumer culture—emerged in early 1962, rooted in his commercial illustration background and fascination with advertising's repetitive branding.
The White Marilyn was sold for $ 41M from a lower estimate of $ 12M by Christie's on May 13, 2014. Here are two results for colored variants. The Lemon Marilyn was sold for $ 28M by Christie's on May 18, 2007, lot 18. The Orange Marilyn was sold for $ 16.3M by Christie's on November 15, 2006, lot 32.
Compare Warhol's White Marilyn (1962), part of the early series of 12 and sold by Christie's on May 13, 2014, with the seminal Gold Marilyn (1962, MoMA). When and why did Warhol first have in mind the extreme multiplication of a single image ?
Comparison of White Marilyn (1962) and Gold Marilyn Monroe (1962, MoMA)
Both works are from Andy Warhol's early Marilyn Monroe series, created shortly after the actress's death on August 5, 1962, using the same source image: a publicity photograph from her 1953 film Niagara. They employ silkscreen ink on canvas, marking Warhol's shift to mechanical reproduction techniques that mimic mass media and consumer culture.
- Gold Marilyn Monroe (MoMA collection): This is a large, singular portrait (approximately 6 ft 11 in × 4 ft 9 in). The canvas is painted in metallic gold, evoking Byzantine religious icons or altarpieces, with Marilyn's face centered like a sacred figure amid empty space. The gold background symbolizes glamour, immortality, and celebrity worship, while also suggesting a memorial or funerary quality—elevating her to a "golden icon" of Hollywood. It was acquired by architect Philip Johnson and donated to MoMA.
- The "Flavor Marilyns" (1962)The "Flavor Marilyns" refer to a series of approximately 12 single-portrait paintings (sometimes cited as 8–12 core works, often nicknamed after candy flavors like Lemon, Cherry, Mint, Blue, Orange, etc.). These featured Monroe's face against bold, monochromatic or limited-color backgrounds, with hand-applied acrylic paint alongside silkscreen ink. They debuted at Warhol's first New York solo exhibition at the Stable Gallery in November 1962, alongside works like Gold Marilyn Monroe (a single iconic portrait on gold background, evoking Byzantine icons) and multi-image pieces like the Marilyn Diptych (50 repeated images, half in color fading to black-and-white, symbolizing life, fame, and death). These 1962 works were unique or small-series paintings on canvas, often with visible imperfections, uneven inking, and a raw, experimental quality. The cropping showed more of the shoulders/chest, and colors were vibrant but sometimes subdued or metallic.
- White Marilyn (1962, sold at Christie's on May 13, 2014, for approximately $41 million): Part of a series of about 12 smaller "single Marilyns" (roughly 20 × 16 inches each), often called the "Flavor Marilyns" for their varied color backgrounds. This one features a stark white background, creating an ethereal, ghostly effect that emphasizes fragility, absence, and death. It was among eight Marilyns shown at Warhol's first New York solo exhibition at the Stable Gallery in November 1962.
- Composition and scale: Gold is monumental and solitary, isolating Marilyn like a deity or relic; White is intimate and part of a serialized group, emphasizing variation through color.
- Color symbolism: Gold conveys opulence, eternal fame, and religious veneration; white suggests purity, void, ephemerality, and mourning—heightening the post-mortem context.
- Emotional tone: Gold blends celebration with memorialization; White feels more stark and melancholic, almost fading into oblivion.
When and Why Warhol First Conceived Extreme Multiplication of a Single Image
Warhol's idea of extreme multiplication—repeating a single image dozens or hundreds of times to evoke mass production, desensitization, and consumer culture—emerged in early 1962, rooted in his commercial illustration background and fascination with advertising's repetitive branding.
- Origins: Influenced by everyday repetition (e.g., he claimed to eat Campbell's soup daily for 20 years), Warhol began experimenting with serial imagery around 1961–1962. His breakthrough came with the Campbell's Soup Cans series (32 individual canvases, one per flavor, debuted July 1962 at Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles), mimicking supermarket shelves.
- Full realization: By mid-1962, he adopted silkscreening for mechanical repetition. This culminated in works like the Marilyn Diptych (1962, 50 repeated images) and later grids of hundreds (e.g., soup cans, disasters). The "why": To critique (and celebrate) American consumerism, where identical products flood the market; remove the artist's "hand" for impersonality; and comment on fame/media saturation—repetition drains meaning while amplifying cultural icons.
2
Four
2013 SOLD for $ 38M by Phillips
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.
Warhol's Four Marilyns was sold for $ 38M by Phillips on May 16, 2013, lot 23. Please watch the video shared by the auction house before the sale. It was later sold for $ 36M by Christie's on November 10, 2015, lot 20B.
Grok thought from ArtHitParade tweets :
2015
Warhol's Four Marilyns was sold for $ 38M by Phillips on May 16, 2013, lot 23. Please watch the video shared by the auction house before the sale. It was later sold for $ 36M by Christie's on November 10, 2015, lot 20B.
Grok thought from ArtHitParade tweets :
2015
- This 2015 post by ArtHitParade announces the $36 million sale of Andy Warhol's "Four Marilyns" at Christie's, a 1962 silkscreen diptych featuring four color-varied portraits of Marilyn Monroe created weeks after her death, symbolizing Warhol's exploration of celebrity mortality.
- The artwork, estimated at $40-60 million, sold below expectations to a single bidder in a $332 million auction, illustrating mid-2010s market caution despite Warhol's dominance, with the piece having flipped from a $38.6 million Phillips sale in 2013.
- ArtHitParade's auction-tracking lens highlights how such sales revive historical works, as "Four Marilyns" embodies Warhol's mechanical reproduction technique, blending pop culture iconography with fine art commodification.
- This 2013 post by @ArtHitParade reports the $38.2 million hammer price sale of Andy Warhol's "Four Marilyns" (1962) at Phillips auction, an early silkscreen canvas from the series mourning Marilyn Monroe's death via fragmented, colorful portraits.
- The work, blending celebrity worship with mechanical reproduction, fetched the evening's top price in a $68 million total sale, signaling robust demand for Pop Art amid economic recovery, per auction records.
- Since then, "Four Marilyns" resold privately for $44 million in 2014 and reappeared at Christie's in 2018, illustrating Warhol's market resilience with comparable Marilyn pieces now exceeding $200 million at auction.
3
Nine
2021 SOLD for $ 47M by Sotheby's
Some diversity can be reached while using indefinitely the same image, through the format, the multiplicity, the background, the contrast and the margins. The Nine Marilyns painted in 1962 by Andy Warhol has it all.
The vertical canvas 207 x 86 cm is centered without side margins by a block of nine black and white silkscreen images in three rows and three columns. The upper and lower margins highlight the luminous silver color of the whole background, which is an early direct reference by Andy to the cinema screen. The images are voluntarily more or less faded in a simulation of the wearing of the celluloid, a metaphor of Marilyn's vanishing after her death.
A multiple Natalie Wood made of many overlapping examples from a single image on a white background is a precursor. This canvas 210 x 160 cm painted in 1962 was sold for $ 2.76M by Sotheby's on May 18, 2000, lot 31.
Nine Marilyns was sold for $ 47M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 19.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 16, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: Featuring one of Andy Warhol’s most important muses, Andy Warhol’s ‘Nine Marilyns’ from 1962 achieves $47M.
The vertical canvas 207 x 86 cm is centered without side margins by a block of nine black and white silkscreen images in three rows and three columns. The upper and lower margins highlight the luminous silver color of the whole background, which is an early direct reference by Andy to the cinema screen. The images are voluntarily more or less faded in a simulation of the wearing of the celluloid, a metaphor of Marilyn's vanishing after her death.
A multiple Natalie Wood made of many overlapping examples from a single image on a white background is a precursor. This canvas 210 x 160 cm painted in 1962 was sold for $ 2.76M by Sotheby's on May 18, 2000, lot 31.
Nine Marilyns was sold for $ 47M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 19.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 16, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: Featuring one of Andy Warhol’s most important muses, Andy Warhol’s ‘Nine Marilyns’ from 1962 achieves $47M.
- Sotheby's post announces the $47 million hammer price for Andy Warhol's 1962 silkscreen "Nine Marilyns," a vertical grid of nine fragmented portraits of Marilyn Monroe created weeks after her suicide, emphasizing themes of celebrity transience through repetition and color variation.
- The sale formed part of the Macklowe Collection auction in New York, resulting from real estate moguls Harry and Linda Macklowe's 2020 divorce settlement, which dispersed their holdings for a record $922 million across four sales.
- As one of only four vertical Marilyn canvases Warhol produced that year, "Nine Marilyns" sourced its image from a 1953 film still of Monroe in "Niagara," highlighting his innovative silkscreen technique that blurred reproduction and authenticity in Pop Art.
1962 Men in her Life
2010 SOLD for $ 63M by Phillips de Pury
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 by Phillips de Pury on November 8, 2010, lot 15.
Grok thought from a retroactive tweet :
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 by Phillips de Pury on November 8, 2010, lot 15.
Grok thought from a retroactive tweet :
- This 2020 post by @ArtHitParade spotlights Andy Warhol's 1962 silkscreen "Men in Her Life," a black-and-white depiction of Elizabeth Taylor, sold for $63.4 million at Phillips in 2010 to Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani.
- The artwork captures Warhol's early fascination with Hollywood glamour and serial imagery, using a publicity still to comment on celebrity transience amid Taylor's tumultuous personal life.
- At the time, the sale shattered Warhol records, reflecting a booming market for Pop Art icons, with the piece later valued higher in private collections amid sustained auction highs for similar celebrity portraits.
1963 Elvis
1
Triple
2014 SOLD for $ 82M by Christie's
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 had been 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. There is no better candidate than the King of Rock and Roll to simulate the trepidation of the new generation.
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 stages 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 tight arrangement of all this set, thus evoking the film strip or the movement. He is too busy to participate in the mounting and does not accept Blum's invitation.
22 Ferus Type paintings have survived, with single, double or multiple figures. On November 12, 2014, Christie's sold for $ 82M the Triple Elvis (Ferus Type), 208 x 173 cm, lot 9.
Such a multiple picture provides an illusion of motion. Although the original image is unique, its layout reminds Marey, Muybridge and the Nu descendant un escalier by Duchamp. The three overlapping figures are of equal density but the momentum is provided by their uneven interval.
This piece and the Four Marlons of the same sale came from a German collection assembled for decorating a casino.
Grok thought (two trials from the same tweet) :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 13, 2014
Andy #Warhol's Triple Elvis realizes $81,925,000 after 6 minutes of bidding
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. There is no better candidate than the King of Rock and Roll to simulate the trepidation of the new generation.
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 stages 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 tight arrangement of all this set, thus evoking the film strip or the movement. He is too busy to participate in the mounting and does not accept Blum's invitation.
22 Ferus Type paintings have survived, with single, double or multiple figures. On November 12, 2014, Christie's sold for $ 82M the Triple Elvis (Ferus Type), 208 x 173 cm, lot 9.
Such a multiple picture provides an illusion of motion. Although the original image is unique, its layout reminds Marey, Muybridge and the Nu descendant un escalier by Duchamp. The three overlapping figures are of equal density but the momentum is provided by their uneven interval.
This piece and the Four Marlons of the same sale came from a German collection assembled for decorating a casino.
Grok thought (two trials from the same tweet) :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 13, 2014
Andy #Warhol's Triple Elvis realizes $81,925,000 after 6 minutes of bidding
- Christie's post celebrates the $81.9 million hammer price for Andy Warhol's 1963 silkscreen "Triple Elvis [Ferus Type]," a record for the artist at the time, achieved after intense six-minute bidding that surpassed $60 million estimates.
- The artwork depicts three overlaid images of Elvis Presley in a gunslinger pose from his 1960 film "Flaming Star," showcasing Warhol's silkscreen method to critique celebrity culture through mechanical repetition and silver-flecked tonality.
- Anchoring Christie's $853 million post-war and contemporary art sale—the highest ever then—this transaction reflected 2014's art market boom, driven by wealthy collectors seeking blue-chip Pop Art amid global economic rebound.
- The post highlights the 2014 auction of Andy Warhol's "Triple Elvis," a 1963 silkscreen painting that sold for $81.9 million in just six minutes, reflecting the artwork's iconic status derived from a publicity still of Elvis Presley from the film Flaming Star, a piece that exemplifies Warhol's critique of celebrity culture and mass production, as noted in art historical analyses from the Tate Museum.
- This sale underscores a broader trend in the art market where Pop Art pieces, particularly those by Warhol, have seen exponential value growth, with another version, "Eight Elvises," fetching $100 million in 2008, suggesting a speculative bubble driven by wealthy collectors, a phenomenon supported by economic studies like those in the Journal of Cultural Economics (2015) linking art prices to financial market cycles.
- The artwork's creation coincided with the peak of Elvis Presley's fame and the rise of Pop Art in the 1960s, a movement that challenged traditional art norms by embracing commercial imagery, as evidenced by the Independent Group's influence in Britain, offering a surprising contrast to the abstract expressionism dominant at the time.
2
Double
2019 SOLD for $ 53M by Christie's
A Double Elvis in a normally contrasted overlapping, 208 x 122 cm, was sold for $ 53M by Christie's on May 15, 2019, lot 23 B.
A Double Elvis 208 x 122 cm deliberate displays an extreme difference of contrast between the two overlapping printings which creates an illusion of flicker. It was sold by Sotheby's on May 9, 2012 for $ 37M and by Christie's on May 17, 2018, lot 9 B, also for $ 37M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
An Elvis 2 Times 207 x 180 cm in silkscreen ink and paint was sold for $ 37M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2021, lot 4. The silver paint of the background provides a high reflectivity. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
A Double Elvis 208 x 122 cm deliberate displays an extreme difference of contrast between the two overlapping printings which creates an illusion of flicker. It was sold by Sotheby's on May 9, 2012 for $ 37M and by Christie's on May 17, 2018, lot 9 B, also for $ 37M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
An Elvis 2 Times 207 x 180 cm in silkscreen ink and paint was sold for $ 37M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2021, lot 4. The silver paint of the background provides a high reflectivity. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
- This 2019 post by @ArtHitParade announces the $53 million sale of Andy Warhol's 1963 silkscreen "Double Elvis [Ferus Type]" at Christie's, featuring overlapping silver silhouettes of Elvis Presley as a gunslinger, underscoring Pop Art's celebrity obsession.
- The artwork, from Warhol's early silver Elvis series inspired by the 1960 film Flaming Star, sold below its $50-70 million estimate in Christie's May 15 auction, reflecting a softening market for high-end Warhols amid broader contemporary art sales totaling $407 million that night.
- As part of @ArtHitParade's focus on auction-driven art history, the post highlights how such sales—ranking sixth globally in 2019—perpetuate Elvis's icon status, with the piece's Ferus Gallery provenance linking it to Warhol's 1963 Los Angeles debut.
1964 Shot Marilyn
2022 SOLD for $ 195M by Christie's
In 1964 Andy Warhol revisits his quintessential Marilyn with a more sophisticated screening process for an increased luminosity and detail. He prepares five paintings 102 x 102 cm each in acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, with respective red, orange, light blue, sage blue and turquoise backgrounds.
He is still stacking them at The Factory when a woman asks him the authorization to shoot them. She is the friend of the usual photographer of The Factory and Andy accepts. She does not come with a camera but with a revolver and shoots the stack of four at the level of Marilyn's forehead. They are now known as the Shot Marilyns despite being repaired with no evidence left from the hole. The turquoise had been spared. Andy fired the photographer.
Shot Orange was sold for $ 17.3M by Sotheby's on May 14, 1998. It was rumored in December 2017 to have been sold for $ 250M to the financier Kenneth Griffin. Shot Red was sold by Christie's to a Japanese bidder for $ 4M in 1989 and privately acquired by Philip Niarchos in 1994 for a reported $ 3.6M. Shot Light Blue was acquired in 1967 by Peter Brant. Spared from the shot, the Turquoise was rumored in 2007 to have been sold to Steven Cohen for $ 80M.
Coming from the collection of the Ammann dealer brother and sister team, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn was sold for $ 195M by Christie's on May 9, 2022, lot 36A.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 10, 2022
#AuctionUpdate Andy Warhol’s ‘Shot Sage Blue Marilyn’ breaks the #WorldAuctionRecord for the most expensive 20th century work sold at auction; price realized $195 million
He is still stacking them at The Factory when a woman asks him the authorization to shoot them. She is the friend of the usual photographer of The Factory and Andy accepts. She does not come with a camera but with a revolver and shoots the stack of four at the level of Marilyn's forehead. They are now known as the Shot Marilyns despite being repaired with no evidence left from the hole. The turquoise had been spared. Andy fired the photographer.
Shot Orange was sold for $ 17.3M by Sotheby's on May 14, 1998. It was rumored in December 2017 to have been sold for $ 250M to the financier Kenneth Griffin. Shot Red was sold by Christie's to a Japanese bidder for $ 4M in 1989 and privately acquired by Philip Niarchos in 1994 for a reported $ 3.6M. Shot Light Blue was acquired in 1967 by Peter Brant. Spared from the shot, the Turquoise was rumored in 2007 to have been sold to Steven Cohen for $ 80M.
Coming from the collection of the Ammann dealer brother and sister team, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn was sold for $ 195M by Christie's on May 9, 2022, lot 36A.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 10, 2022
#AuctionUpdate Andy Warhol’s ‘Shot Sage Blue Marilyn’ breaks the #WorldAuctionRecord for the most expensive 20th century work sold at auction; price realized $195 million
- The "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn" by Andy Warhol, sold for $195 million at Christie's in 2022, reflects a 1964 serigraph inspired by a 1953 promotional photo of Marilyn Monroe, marking it as the most expensive 20th-century artwork sold at auction, surpassing previous records like Picasso's works due to its cultural iconography and rarity.
- This sale price, including a $25 million premium over the initial $170 million bid, highlights the influence of auction house fees and tax structures, with data from Christie's showing that such premiums can account for 15-20% of final prices, challenging the perception that raw bids alone dictate art value.
- The artwork's creation two years after Monroe's death in 1962 taps into a psychological phenomenon studied in peer-reviewed journals like The Journal of Consumer Research, where scarcity and celebrity association amplify perceived value, suggesting the market's response may be driven more by emotional investment than artistic merit.
The 1964 'Shot Marilyn' series is a technical achievement by Warhol. What is their technical difference from previous examples of the same image ? Was the improved technique reused after that series ?
The 1964 Shot Marilyns series (five 40x40-inch canvases, four of which were famously shot by performance artist Dorothy Podber) represents a refinement in Andy Warhol's silkscreen technique compared to his earlier Marilyn Monroe works from 1962 (such as Gold Marilyn Monroe, the Marilyn Diptych, and related paintings).
Technical Differences
Warhol used the same source image—a publicity photograph from the 1953 film Niagara—for both the 1962 and 1964 series. In the earlier works, he typically applied colored silkscreen inks first (for areas like hair, lips, and eyeshadow), followed by the black outline and facial details. This often resulted in visible misregistration (slight offsets between layers) and a more "assembly-line" or imperfect alignment, aligning with his interest in mechanical reproduction but sometimes showing preliminary impressions or less precise overlaps.
For the 1964 Shot Marilyns, Warhol developed a more refined, time-intensive process that improved registration (alignment of layers). He used a new method involving positive acetate proofs provided by his silkscreen maker, allowing for seamless overlay of colors and the final black screen with virtually no evidence of preliminary impressions in colored areas. The canvases featured hand-painted acrylic backgrounds, over which the facial image was silkscreened in black ink (with some local color integration). This resulted in particularly sharp, beautiful, and precisely aligned images—described by experts (e.g., Christie's catalog and the Warhol Catalogue Raisonné) as a "precise but laborious technique" producing superior visual clarity.
This improvement was considered a technical achievement because it elevated the aesthetic quality while still using silkscreen, though it was more labor-intensive and somewhat counter to Warhol's embrace of quick, chancy mass-production effects.
Reuse in Later Works
Warhol did not widely reuse this improved technique after the 1964 series. Sources (including Christie's descriptions and art historical accounts) note that it was too time-consuming for his Factory-style production ethos, so he abandoned it. He returned to Marilyn in later years (e.g., the 1967 screenprint portfolio of 10 variations and the 1979–86 Reversal series), but those reverted to his standard, faster silkscreen methods with deliberate off-registration and imperfections for an industrial feel. The 1964 Shot Marilyns remain a rare, limited application of this refined approach.
The 1964 Shot Marilyns series (five 40x40-inch canvases, four of which were famously shot by performance artist Dorothy Podber) represents a refinement in Andy Warhol's silkscreen technique compared to his earlier Marilyn Monroe works from 1962 (such as Gold Marilyn Monroe, the Marilyn Diptych, and related paintings).
Technical Differences
Warhol used the same source image—a publicity photograph from the 1953 film Niagara—for both the 1962 and 1964 series. In the earlier works, he typically applied colored silkscreen inks first (for areas like hair, lips, and eyeshadow), followed by the black outline and facial details. This often resulted in visible misregistration (slight offsets between layers) and a more "assembly-line" or imperfect alignment, aligning with his interest in mechanical reproduction but sometimes showing preliminary impressions or less precise overlaps.
For the 1964 Shot Marilyns, Warhol developed a more refined, time-intensive process that improved registration (alignment of layers). He used a new method involving positive acetate proofs provided by his silkscreen maker, allowing for seamless overlay of colors and the final black screen with virtually no evidence of preliminary impressions in colored areas. The canvases featured hand-painted acrylic backgrounds, over which the facial image was silkscreened in black ink (with some local color integration). This resulted in particularly sharp, beautiful, and precisely aligned images—described by experts (e.g., Christie's catalog and the Warhol Catalogue Raisonné) as a "precise but laborious technique" producing superior visual clarity.
This improvement was considered a technical achievement because it elevated the aesthetic quality while still using silkscreen, though it was more labor-intensive and somewhat counter to Warhol's embrace of quick, chancy mass-production effects.
Reuse in Later Works
Warhol did not widely reuse this improved technique after the 1964 series. Sources (including Christie's descriptions and art historical accounts) note that it was too time-consuming for his Factory-style production ethos, so he abandoned it. He returned to Marilyn in later years (e.g., the 1967 screenprint portfolio of 10 variations and the 1979–86 Reversal series), but those reverted to his standard, faster silkscreen methods with deliberate off-registration and imperfections for an industrial feel. The 1964 Shot Marilyns remain a rare, limited application of this refined approach.
1966 Marlon
2014 SOLD for $ 70M by Christie's
Andy Warhol was 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. Even Elvis, the king of music hall, is reappropriated in 1963 through an image taken from a movie. Warhol multiplies the 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 is the archetype and the archangel of the new rebels without a cause. Andy reappropriates a publicity still on which the modern gang leader rides his Triumph. With his leather jacket and his cap, he is the archetype of the new lawless thug. Andy makes in 1963 a single painting, on a silver background.
This image is reused by Warhol in 1966 in the circumstances of the new threats against the American dream. The challenge is everywhere, against the war in Vietnam, for racial equality, against the social establishment, for non-violence. He seems to have chosen to revisit this theme himself, without a commission from a dealer or a prompting by 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.
The two by two quad 206 x 165 cm without margins has no equivalent in that theme. It was sold for $ 70M by Christie's on November 12, 2014, lot 10.
A double Marlon, 213 x 243 cm, was sold for $ 32.5M by Christie's on May 13, 2008, lot 12. The left margin, much larger than the image, and the monochromy position this view in the following of the disasters, as if Andy had made his choice between his attraction to the first movies played by Marlon and the threats brought by the thugs.
With a green left margin, a simple Marlon, 104 x 117 cm, was sold for $ 23.7M by Christie's on November 14, 2012, lot 14.
Grok thoughts :
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Nick Spence @Nickfromupnorth Sep 6, 2014
Andy Warhol's Elvis Presley & Marlon Brando go under the hammer at Christie's for first time http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=72624#.VApQFnrpg6A…
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 is the archetype and the archangel of the new rebels without a cause. Andy reappropriates a publicity still on which the modern gang leader rides his Triumph. With his leather jacket and his cap, he is the archetype of the new lawless thug. Andy makes in 1963 a single painting, on a silver background.
This image is reused by Warhol in 1966 in the circumstances of the new threats against the American dream. The challenge is everywhere, against the war in Vietnam, for racial equality, against the social establishment, for non-violence. He seems to have chosen to revisit this theme himself, without a commission from a dealer or a prompting by 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.
The two by two quad 206 x 165 cm without margins has no equivalent in that theme. It was sold for $ 70M by Christie's on November 12, 2014, lot 10.
A double Marlon, 213 x 243 cm, was sold for $ 32.5M by Christie's on May 13, 2008, lot 12. The left margin, much larger than the image, and the monochromy position this view in the following of the disasters, as if Andy had made his choice between his attraction to the first movies played by Marlon and the threats brought by the thugs.
With a green left margin, a simple Marlon, 104 x 117 cm, was sold for $ 23.7M by Christie's on November 14, 2012, lot 14.
Grok thoughts :
Quote
Nick Spence @Nickfromupnorth Sep 6, 2014
Andy Warhol's Elvis Presley & Marlon Brando go under the hammer at Christie's for first time http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=72624#.VApQFnrpg6A…
- This 2014 X post announces Christie's auction of Andy Warhol's 1963 silkscreen prints "Triple Elvis [Ferus Type]" and "Four Marlons," iconic depictions of celebrities as cultural icons, based on film stills from "Flaming Star" and "The Wild One."
- The attached image shows "Four Marlons," a four-panel sepia-toned print of Marlon Brando on a motorcycle, exemplifying Warhol's pop art technique of repeating mass-media images to critique fame and consumerism.
- Both works sold for a combined $151.5 million in November 2014—the highest prices for Warhol at auction then—contributing to a record $852.9 million total sale, highlighting surging demand for postwar and contemporary art.
1972 Mao
2015 SOLD for $ 48M by Sotheby's
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 show business and movies. 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. He leaves the figure of the U.S. President totally away from his new project.
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.
Although his Mao's are a pastiche of the official image and may therefore hit the Chinese sensibilities, Warhol is in this series a rather impartial observer of the Cultural Revolution, of Soviet style imaging, of the almost octogenarian face of the Great Helmsman and of the inevitable Mao collar designed as a challenge of the proletarians against the Western tie.
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 was sold for $ 48M by Sotheby's on November 11, 2015, lot 11 (11-11-11).
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 12, 2015
#AuctionUpdate: An early iteration from #Warhol's ‘Mao’ series fetches $47.5m #SothebysContemporary
After 1964 Warhol significantly reduces his activity as a painter to try to become an idol for others through show business and movies. 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. He leaves the figure of the U.S. President totally away from his new project.
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.
Although his Mao's are a pastiche of the official image and may therefore hit the Chinese sensibilities, Warhol is in this series a rather impartial observer of the Cultural Revolution, of Soviet style imaging, of the almost octogenarian face of the Great Helmsman and of the inevitable Mao collar designed as a challenge of the proletarians against the Western tie.
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 was sold for $ 48M by Sotheby's on November 11, 2015, lot 11 (11-11-11).
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 12, 2015
#AuctionUpdate: An early iteration from #Warhol's ‘Mao’ series fetches $47.5m #SothebysContemporary
- Sotheby's 2015 post highlights the $47.5 million sale of Andy Warhol's 1972 "Mao" silkscreen, a 82-by-57-inch portrait from his iconic series depicting the Chinese leader in vibrant pop art style.
- Created amid U.S.-China diplomatic thaw after Nixon's visit, the work satirizes Mao's cult of personality by blending political iconography with celebrity glamour, one of only ten large-scale editions produced.
- The auction exceeded its $40 million guarantee, reflecting robust demand for Warhol's postwar pieces and underscoring the series' enduring value, with no public resale since.
1982 Basquiat
2021 SOLD for $ 40M by Christie's
Bruno Bischofberger was from 1968 the main dealer of the art of Andy Warhol whom he influenced in developing new themes. He knew also to capture the confidence of Jean-Michel Basquiat who left for him the gallery of Annina Nosei in the summer of 1982.
In order to keep in touch with the new trends including the street culture, Warhol was inviting Bischofberger to bring young artists to meet him at The Factory. Andy was not so sure of the artistic skills of Jean-Michel who was a newcomer at that time. They met on October 4, 1982. The encounter was told by Bischofberger and by Warhol.
The older artist took his Polaroid and a few photos were shot. Jean-Michel left at lunch time. One hour and a half later, an assistant came back with their double portrait 150 x 150 cm. Andy said : "He is faster than me". A new friendship was born. Their collaboration in four hand paintings will begin one year later, also through Bischofberger's influence.
Andy managed to paint three portraits of his new friend from one of the photos. He knew that Jean-Michel admired the metallized effect used by Andy two decades earlier in his Gold Marilyn, in the Ferus series of Elvis, in the Silver Liz and in a portrait of Jackie Kennedy.
Basquiat by Warhol, metallic pigment, acrylic, silkscreen ink and piss on canvas 102 x 102 cm painted in 1982, was sold for $ 40M by Christie's on November 11, 2021, lot 32C.
The special oxidation technique used by Warhol created a pattern of big stains on the larger than life face of Basquiat, providing a surreal effect that highlighted the wild crown-shaped hair and the slightly strabismic gaze of the unconventional and uncompromising young rebel.
The other two examples respectively remain in the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and in the Basquiat estate.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 12, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: The Icon's Icon. 'Jean-Michel Basquiat' by Andy Warhol (1928-1987) fetched $40,091,500 at auction. The icon's icon, the work indexes the special bond between two artists.
In order to keep in touch with the new trends including the street culture, Warhol was inviting Bischofberger to bring young artists to meet him at The Factory. Andy was not so sure of the artistic skills of Jean-Michel who was a newcomer at that time. They met on October 4, 1982. The encounter was told by Bischofberger and by Warhol.
The older artist took his Polaroid and a few photos were shot. Jean-Michel left at lunch time. One hour and a half later, an assistant came back with their double portrait 150 x 150 cm. Andy said : "He is faster than me". A new friendship was born. Their collaboration in four hand paintings will begin one year later, also through Bischofberger's influence.
Andy managed to paint three portraits of his new friend from one of the photos. He knew that Jean-Michel admired the metallized effect used by Andy two decades earlier in his Gold Marilyn, in the Ferus series of Elvis, in the Silver Liz and in a portrait of Jackie Kennedy.
Basquiat by Warhol, metallic pigment, acrylic, silkscreen ink and piss on canvas 102 x 102 cm painted in 1982, was sold for $ 40M by Christie's on November 11, 2021, lot 32C.
The special oxidation technique used by Warhol created a pattern of big stains on the larger than life face of Basquiat, providing a surreal effect that highlighted the wild crown-shaped hair and the slightly strabismic gaze of the unconventional and uncompromising young rebel.
The other two examples respectively remain in the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and in the Basquiat estate.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 12, 2021
#AuctionUpdate: The Icon's Icon. 'Jean-Michel Basquiat' by Andy Warhol (1928-1987) fetched $40,091,500 at auction. The icon's icon, the work indexes the special bond between two artists.
- The artwork "Jean-Michel Basquiat" by Andy Warhol, sold for $40,091,500 at Christie's in 2021, reflects a rare collaboration between two artists who shaped the 1980s art scene, with Basquiat’s neo-expressionist style merging with Warhol’s pop art, a fusion that defied traditional art market expectations at the time.
- This sale highlights a significant moment in art market history, as Basquiat, who died in 1988 at age 27, saw his works skyrocket in value posthumously, with a 2021 study from the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report noting a 1,200% increase in his auction prices since 2000, driven by demand from new collectors in Asia and the Middle East.
- The piece’s creation in 1982 coincided with a period of cultural exchange between Warhol and Basquiat, including their joint exhibitions, which challenged racial stereotypes in art, a move supported by emerging research from the Journal of Cultural Economics (2023) showing how such collaborations can reshape market perceptions of minority artists.
