A set of six small size self portraits with fright wig by Warhol was sold for $ 30M including premium by Sotheby's on May 14, 2014, lot 23. It had been illustrated by Sotheby's in a pre sale video. Still complete from its original configuration it is now offered by Christie's in London on March 6, lot 9.
These six acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas 56 x 56 cm display the same image, each one in another color.
I narrated this famous image as follows before the 2014 sale :
The two major themes of multiples that made Andy Warhol busy in 1986 are so opposite that it is worth putting them face to face.
On one side, Leonardo's Last Supper with Christ as the central character, also processed in detailed enlargement, dignified and doctoral.
On the other side, the last self-portrait, head cut under the chin with the shaggy hair (or wig) of a mad man. The lines of the face are wasted as if they announced the next transformation of the artist into a skeleton.
Andy had ever wished to moralize the society. He is exhausted by the beginning of the disease. He is facing the Christ of whom he now knows that he cannot be a reincarnation.
This portrait is a masterpiece of self-mockery. In his usual practice Andy prepared it in various sizes and colors. The smaller were intended to be kept in series in a sequence of hanging defined by the artist.
The bigger pictures 270 x 270 cm were twice featured at auction. The terrible red version was sold for $ 27.5 million including premium by Christie's on 11 May 2011. The disturbing purple portrait was sold for $ 32.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on May 12, 2010.
A set of three mid-size 102 x 102 cm each was sold for £ 11.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on February 27, 2008, a high price at a time when the British currency was worth almost two dollars.
SOLD for £ 22.6M including premium
These six acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas 56 x 56 cm display the same image, each one in another color.
I narrated this famous image as follows before the 2014 sale :
The two major themes of multiples that made Andy Warhol busy in 1986 are so opposite that it is worth putting them face to face.
On one side, Leonardo's Last Supper with Christ as the central character, also processed in detailed enlargement, dignified and doctoral.
On the other side, the last self-portrait, head cut under the chin with the shaggy hair (or wig) of a mad man. The lines of the face are wasted as if they announced the next transformation of the artist into a skeleton.
Andy had ever wished to moralize the society. He is exhausted by the beginning of the disease. He is facing the Christ of whom he now knows that he cannot be a reincarnation.
This portrait is a masterpiece of self-mockery. In his usual practice Andy prepared it in various sizes and colors. The smaller were intended to be kept in series in a sequence of hanging defined by the artist.
The bigger pictures 270 x 270 cm were twice featured at auction. The terrible red version was sold for $ 27.5 million including premium by Christie's on 11 May 2011. The disturbing purple portrait was sold for $ 32.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on May 12, 2010.
A set of three mid-size 102 x 102 cm each was sold for £ 11.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on February 27, 2008, a high price at a time when the British currency was worth almost two dollars.
SOLD for £ 22.6M including premium
Six Small Fright Wigs at Christie’s Provide Warhol Market Test https://t.co/e8Z9v1MX8H pic.twitter.com/OT1U2amxhE
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) February 13, 2018
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