CHRISTIE'S TO SELL WARHOL SELF-PORTRAIT

AN ANDY WARHOL SELF-PORTRAIT PURCHASED IN 1963 FOR $1,600 ON AN INSTALLMENT PLAN IS POISED TO FETCH $30 MILLION OR MORE WHEN IT GOES ON THE AUCTION BLOCK AT CHRISTIE'S IN MAY. 'SELF-PORTRAIT', A FOUR-PANEL ACRYLIC SILKSCREEN DEPICTING THE POP ARTIST WEARING A TRENCH COAT AND SUNGLASSES, IS BEING SOLD BY THE FAMILY OF DETROIT COLLECTOR FLORENCE BARRON. BARRON FIRST COMMISSIONED WARHOL TO PAINT HER PORTRAIT, BUT CHANGED HER MIND AND SUGGESTED THE YOUNG ARTIST DEPICT HIMSELF, TELLING HIM, 'NOBODY KNOWS ME...THEY WANT TO SEE YOU'. THE RESULT WAS WARHOL'S FIRST SELF PORTRAIT, FOUR IMAGES TAKEN IN A COIN-OPERATED PHOTO-BOOTH RENDERED IN HUES OF BLUE. 'MY MOTHER DIDN'T LOOK AT COLLECTING IN TERMS OF 'IS THIS IMPORTANT OT NOT IMPORTANT', GUY BARRON TOLD REUTERS. SHE LOOKED AT IT FROM THE STANDPOINT OF WHAT RESONATED WITH HER, AND OF 'I WANT TO LIVE WITH IT', IT WAS NOT DONE AS SOME PEOPLE DO TODAY, AS WALL POWER.' THE PORTRAIT GRACED THE LIVING ROOM WALL OF THE FAMILY HOME IN DETROIT. IT ALSO WENT ON PUBLIC DISPLAY, SERVING AS THE COVER IMAGE FOR CATALOGS FROM MAJOR WARHOL EXHIBITIONS AND RETROSPECTIVES AT THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART IN NEW YORK AND THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM IN BILBAO, SPAIN. BRETT GORVY, CHRISTIE'S INTERNATIONAL CO-HEAD AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN FOR POST-WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART, SAID THE WORK MARKED THE BEGINNING OF WARHOL'S OWN STARDOM. 'WITH DARK GLASSES AN OBLIVIOUS GAZE, WARHOL WAS AHEAD OF HIS TIME IN CREATING A NEW ARCHETYPE OF GLAMOR', GORVY SAID. 'THE PAINTING IS REMARKABLE NOT ONLY FOR ITS VISUAL IMPACT AND THE INTRODUCTION OF THE PHOTO-BOOTH GENRE, BUT FOR MARKING A KEY MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF ART, WHEN WARHOL TAKES HIS PLACE IN THE PANTHEON OF CELEBRITY ALONGSIDE MARILYN, ELIZABETH AND ELVIS.' BARRON, WHOSE FAMILY INCLUDES TWO MARRIED SONS AND SEVERAL GRANDCHILDREN, SAID THEY WERE AUCTIONING THE WORK BECAUSE 'DIVIDING IS NOT POSSIBLE, SO SELLING MAKES THE MOST SENSE.' THE RECORD FOR A WARHOL SELF-PORTRAIT IS $32.6 MILLION SET LAST MAY AT SOTHEBY'S IN NEW YORK. THE RECORD PRICE FOR ANY WARHOL SOLD AT AUCTION IS 'GREEN CAR CRASH (GREEN BURNING CAR I)' WHICH CHRISTIE'S SOLD FOR $71.7 IN 2007.

PUBLIC ART FUND PRESENTS ROB PRUITT'S THE ANDY MONUMENT

PUBLIC ART FUND PRESENTS ROB PRUITT'S THE ANDY MONUMENT, 30.MARCH-2.OCTOBER, AT THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF UNION SQUARE. THE MONUMENT TO ANDY WARHOL, THE FATHER OF POP ART AND ONE OF NEW YORK'S ENDURING CULTURAL ICONS IS INSTALLED JUST OUTSIDE THE BUILDING THAT HOUSED WARHOL'S 'FACTORY' FOR MORE THAN TEN YEARS IN THE 1970s AND EARLY 1980s, AND JUST DOWN THE STREET FROM AN EARLIER 'FACTORY' SITE. 'WE ARE THRILLED TO BE COLLABORATING WITH ROB, WHOSE WORK HAS EXACTLY THE SPIRIT OF GENEROSITY AND ENGAGEMENT THAT LENDS ITSELF SO WELL TO PUBLIC ART', SAID NICKOLAS BAUME, PUBLIC ART FUND DIRECTOR AND CHIEF CURATOR. 'INSPIRED BY WARHOL AND HIS STORY, ROB MOVED TO NEW YORK AS A YOUNG MAN AND EVEN MET WARHOL WHEN HE VISITED THE 'FACTORY' TO INTERVIEW FOR A JOB. ROB'S MEMORY OF THE ARTIST THAT DAY FORMED THE VISION FOR THIS SCULPTURE, AND I THINK THAT PERSONAL CONNECTION WILL RESONATE WITH MANY WHO COME TO VISIT, JUST AS IT DOES WITH ME.' PRUITT ENVISIONS THE MONUMENT AS A PILGRIMAGE SITE THAT EMBODIES THE SPIRIT OF WARHOL AND THE DOWNTOWN CULTURAL MOVEMENT. 'EVERY DAY A THOUSAND MORE KIDS COME TO NEW YORK PROPELLED BY HIS LEGACY. AND EVEN IF THE DECADES PASS AND WARHOL'S LEGACY BECOMES FURTHER DISTANT, THERE IS A DIRECT LINK TO HIM, LIKE THIS PILGRIMAGE, COMING HERE TO MAKE IT BIG, TO BE AN ARTIST', SAID PRUITT. 'LIKE OSCAR WILDE'S GRAVE AT PERE LACHAISE, THERE SHOULD BE A DESTINATION IN NEW YORK TO MARK THE JOURNEY. I THINK SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE IN THE STREETS OF NEW YORK, SOMETHING YOU COULD VISIT AT 4:30 IN THE MORNING.' ADAPTING THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF FORMAL STATUARY, LIKE THE NEARBY MONUMENTS TO GANDHI, LINCOLN AND WASHINGTON, THE SEVEN FOOT TALL FIGURE STANDS ATOP A CONCRETE PEDESTAL, ITS CHROMED SURFACE REFLECTING THE SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE WARHOL WORKED FOR MUCH OF HIS LIFE: MAX's KANSAS CITY, A FAVORITE WARHOL HANGOUT, ONCE STOOD NEARBY, INTERVIEW MAGAZINE WAS LAUNCHED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, AND VALERIE SOLANAS ATTEMPTED HER ASSASSINATION OF WARHOL HERE.

CHRISTIE'S SELLS WARHOL SELF-PORTRAIT FOR $17 MILLION

A SELF-PORTRAIT BY ANDY WARHOL HAS SOLD FOR $17 MILLION, DOUBLE ITS PRE-SALE ESTIMATE. CHRISTIE'S LONDON SAYS THE WORK HAS BEEN IN A PRIVATE COLLECTION SINCE 1974. IT IS ONE OF A SERIES OF 11 SELF-PORTRAITS WARHOL CREATED. THE IMAGE OF RED AND WHITE SILKSCREEN INK ON CANVAS SHOWS THE ARTIST WITH HIS HAND TO HIS MOUTH. IT WAS EXECUTED IN 1967, AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS CAREER AS THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGURE IN AMERICAN POP ART. CHRISTIE'S SAYS THE PORTRAIT WAS BOUGHT BY AN ANONYMOUS BIDDER IN ITS LONDON AUCTION ROOM WEDNESDAY. THE IMAGE OF WARHOL WITH HIS TO HIS MOUTH IS ONE OF THE MOST REPRESENTATIVE AND ICONIC IMAGES OF THE ARTIST. WARHOL FIRST USED THE IMAGE FOR A GROUP OF WORKS IN 1966 PAINTED IN A MUCH SMALLER, LIFE-SIZE SCALE. THE FOLLOWING YEAR HE USED THE SAME IMAGE IN PRODUCING 11 MONUMENTAL WORKS IN A LARGE-SCALE FORMAT OF SIX FOOT SQUARE, OF WHICH THE PRESENT EXAMPLE IS ONE. SIX WORKS FROM THE SERIES WERE EXHIBITED IN THE AMERICAN PAVILION AT THE 1967 INTERNATIONAL AND UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION IN MONTREAL WHICH WAS VISITED BY TENS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE, AND WHICH SAW THE PORTRAITS DOMINATE AN EXHIBITION INCLUDING WORKS BY JASPER JOHNS, ROY LICHTENSTEIN, BARNETT NEWMAN AND ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG. BY 1967 WARHOL HAD REACHED A POINT IN HIS CAREER WHEN HE WAS INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED AS THE MOST IMPORTANT AND CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE IN AMERICAN POP ART . THE PRESENT SERIES OF SELF-PORTRAITS REPRESENT THE HIGH POINT OF HIS CAREER WHEN HE HAS ACHIEVED GREAT WEALTH AND FAME, AND WHEN AS A CELEBRITY HE BRASHLY AND CONFIDENTLY PRESENTED HIS OWN IMAGE IN A TRULY MONUMENTAL FASHION TO A GLOBAL AUDIENCE OF MILLION.

HIGH MUSEUM OF ART TO PRESENT 'PICASSO TO WARHOL: TWELVE MODERN MASTERS'

THE HIGH MUSEUM OF ART, ATLANTA, WILL CONTINUE ITS COLLABORATION WITH THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (MOMA), NEW YORK, WITH THE EXCLUSIVE PRESENTATION OF THE MAJOR EXHIBITION 'PICASSO TO WARHOL: TWELVE MODERN MASTERS' BEGINNING IN OCTOBER 2011. THE EXHIBITION WILL PRESENT APPROXIMATELY 100 WORKS OF ART CREATED BY 12 OF THE MOST ICONIC ARTISTS FROM THE 20th CENTURY; PABLO PICASSO, HENRI MATISSE, CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI, PIET MONDRIAN, FERNAND LEGER, MARCEL DUCHAMP, GIORGIO DE CHIRICO, JOAN MIRO, ALEXANDER CALDER, JACKSON POLLOCK, JASPER JOHNS AND ANDY WARHOL. 'PICASSO TO WARHOL ' WILL BE ONE OF THE LARGEST CONCENTRATIONS OF MODERN ART MASTERPIECES TO EVER BE EXHIBITED IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. CO-ORGANIZED BY THE HIGH MUSEUM OF ART AND MOMA, THE EXHIBITION WILL BE ON VIEW ONLY IN ATLANTA FROM 15.OCTOBER THROUGH 29.APRIL.2012.

CHRISTIE'S TO SELL RARE WARHOL SELF-PORTRAIT

A RARE ANDY WARHOL SELF PORTRAIT IN STARK WHITE AND RED, WHICH HAD BEEN IN [PRIVATE HANDS FOR OVER 30 YEARS, WILL GO ON SALE AT CHRISTIE'S IN LONDON NEXT MONTH, ANCHORING THE AUCTIONEER'S POST WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART OFFERING. THE UNUSUALLY LARGE CANVAS, 6 FEET BY 6 FEET FEATURES THE PENSIVE ARTIST STARRING STRAIGHT AT THE VIEWER BUT WITH HALF HIS FACE SWALLOWED IN A SHADOW OF BLOOD RED PAINT. ONE OF 11 SELF PORTRAITS IN THE 1967 SERIES, IT IS THE ONLY ONE RESTRICTED TO TWO COLOURS. CHRISTIE'S ESTIMATES A GAVEL PRICE OF £3 TO £5 MILLION FOR THE PAINTING. 'THIS IS ONE OF THE MISSING PIECES OF THE HOLY GRAIL', SAID AMY CAPPELLAZZO, CHRISTIE'S CO-HEAD OF CONTEMPORARY AND POST WAR ART. IT WAS PUT UP FOR SALE BY THE ESTATE OF THE PAINTING'S PURCHASER, WHO IS NOW DECEASED, SHE ADDED. WARHOL WAS AT THE HEIGHT OF CELEBRITY WHEN HE FIRST EXHIBITED THE PAINTING ALONG WITH 10 OTHER PORTRAITS AT THE MONTREAL, CANADA 1967 WORLD'S FAIR, KNOWN AS EXPO 67. THE SELF-PORTRAIT DISAPPEARED FROM VIEW AFTER IT WAS OUGHT IN 1974 FROM WARHOL'S MAIN DEALER, LEO CASTELLI. THE WARHOL IS PART OF CHRISTIE'S POST-WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART AUCTION ON 16-17.FEBRUARY IN LONDON, COMPRISED OF 64 WORKS AND ESTIMATED AT A TOTAL OF £66.4 MILLION.

CHRISTIE'S SELL DENNIS HOPPER'S WARHOL PAINTING FOR $302,500

THE ANDY WARHOL PORTRAIT OF MAO ZEDONG THAT ACTOR DENNIS HOPPER SHOT TWO BULLETS THROUGH SOLD FOR $302,500 AT CHRISTIE'S ON TUESDAY, MORE THAN 10 TIMES ITS HIGH ESTIMATE. THE 1972 SCREEN PRINT FROM HOPPER'S ART COLLECTION IS DONE IN HUES OF MOSTLY BLUES AND GREENS, INCLUDING A DEEP BLUE FACE OF MAO, THE FOUNDER OF THE MODERN COMMUNIST STATE. IT HAD BEEN ESTIMATED TO SELL FOR $20,000 TO $30,000 AT THE TWO-DAY AUCTION OF HUNDREDS OF WORKS FROM THE ACTOR'S COLLECTION AND PERSONAL MEMORABILIA FROM HIS CALIFORNIA HOME. MAO WAS AMONG WARHOL'S ICONIC SUBJECTS. HOPPER'S PAINTING WAS UNIQUE BECAUSE IT INCLUDED BULLET HOLES FIRED AFTER THE NOTORIOUSLY WILD ACTOR GOT SPOOKED AND 'MISTOOK THE PORTRAIT ON HIS WALL FOR MAO HIMSELF AND SHOT AT IT', ACCORDING TO CHRISTIE'S. HOPPER, WHO DIED OF CANCER LAST YEAR, LATER SHOWED WARHOL THE BULLET HOLES, AND THE PAIR AGREED TO CONSIDER THE WORK A COLLABORATION. WARHOL DREW CIRCLES AROUND THE HOLES, LABELING THE ONE OVER MAO'S RIGHT SHOULDER 'WARNING SHOT' AND THE ONE AT HIS LEFT EYELID 'BULLET HOLE'. ANOTHER ICONIC WARHOL SCREEN-PRINT FROM 1967 OF MARILYN MONROE FETCHED $206,500, OR ABOUT FOUR TIMES THE PRE-SALE ESTIMATE. MUCH OF HOPPER'S MOST VALUABLE ART WAS SOLD IN NOVEMBER DURING CHRISTIE'S CONTEMPORARY AND POST-WAR AUCTION, RAISING MORE THAN $10 MILLION FOR THE ESTATE.

CHRISTIE'S TO SELL DENIS HOPPER COLLECTION NEXT WEEK

DENIS HOPPER SHOT TWO BULLET HOLES THROUGH AN ANDY WARHOL PORTRAIT OF MAO ZEDONG, BUT INSTEAD OF EARNING THE WRATH OF THE ARTIST, WARHOL CALLED THE 'EASY RIDER' STAR A COLLABORATOR. WARHOL'S 'MAO' IS AMONG 300 WORKS OF FINE ART AND MEMORABILIA OWNED BY THE LATE ACTOR-DIRECTOR OF THE 1969 COUNTERCULTURE FILM UP FOR AUCTION AT CHRISTIE'S NEXT WEEK. THE 1972 COLOURED SCREEN-PRINT IS EXPECTED TO BRING $20,000 TO $30,000. MOST OF THE ITEMS ADORNED THE ACTOR'S VENICE BEACH, CALIFORNIA, HOME. HOPPER, WHO WAS TWICE NOMINATED FOR OSCARS AND EARNED A STAR LAST YEAR ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME, DIED OF PROSTATE CANCER AT HIS HOME IN MAY. HE WAS 74. HOPPER WAS ALREADY STRICKEN WITH CANCER WHEN HE ATTENDED THE CEREMONY FOR THE UNVEILING OF HIS COMMEMORATIVE STAR. THE FRAMED PLAQUE OF THE STAR THAT HE RECEIVED AS A MEMENTO OF THE EVENT IS BEING SOLD NEXT WEEK FOR AN ESTIMATED $1,000 TO $1,500. HOPPER BEGAN COLLECTING IN THE 1960s AFTER THE VENERABLE ACTOR, VINCENT PRICE, HIMSELF AN AVID COLLECTOR OF IMPRESSIONIST ART, TOLD HIM: 'YOU NEED TO COLLECT, THIS IS WHERE YOU NEED TO PUT YOUR MONEY', SAID CATHY ELKIES, CHRISTIE'S DIRECTOR OF ICONIC COLLECTIONS. 'THIS REALLY WAS HIS CALLING.' HOPPER, A PHOTOGRAPHER AND PAINTER HIMSELF, BECAME IMMERSED IN THE WEST COAST ARTIST SCENE AND POP ART MOVEMENT, BECOMING CLOSE FRIENDS WITH WARHOL, ROY LICHTENSTEIN AND MANY OTHER ARTISTS HE COLLECTED. WHILE ECLECTIC, 'THERE IS SOME DEPTH OF CERTAIN ARTISTS' AMONG THE FINE ART WORKS IN THE COLLECTION, INCLUDING THOSE OF WALLACE BERMAN, BRUCE CONNER AND GEORGE HERMS. CONNER'S 'PICNIC ON THE GRASS' AND WARHOL'S 'MAO' ARE THE HIGHEST PRICED ITEMS IN THE SALE. 'PICNIC ON THE GRASS' ALSO IS EXPECTED TO BRING BETWEEN $20,000 TO $30,000. THE SHOOTING INCIDENT INVOLVING 'MAO' OCCURRED SOMETIME IN THE EARLY 1970s AT HOPPER'S LOS ANGELES HOME, SAID ALEX HITZ, A FAMILY FRIEND AND A TRUSTEE OF THE ESTATE. 'ONE NIGHT IN THE SHADOWS, DENNIS, OUT OF THE CORNER OF HIS EYE, SAW THE MAO AND HE WAS SO SPOOKED BY IT THAT HE GOT UP AND SHOT AT IT, TWICE, PUTTING TWO BULLET HOLES IN IT', HITZ TOLD THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IN A TELEPHONE INTERVIEW FROM LOS ANGELES. 'ANDY SAW IT, LOVED IT AND ANNOTATED THOSE HOLES' LABELING THEM 'WARNING SHOT' AND 'BULLET HOLE.' HOPPER'S FOUR CHILDREN ARE SELLING THE COLLECTION BECAUSE 'IT WAS DENNIS' WISH TO SELL EVERYTHING. ELKIES SAID HOPPER'S VENICE BEACH HOUSE WAS FILLED 'LITERALLY FROM FLOOR TO CEILING WITH ART, AND REALISTICALLY THEY (THE CHILDREN) COULDN'T TAKE THAT ON.' CHRISTIE'S OFFERED 30 WORKS FROM THE HOPPER COLLECTION IN NOVEMBER WHEN A 1987 JEAN-MICHAEL BASQUIAT MIXED MEDIA WORK, 'UNTITLED', SOLD FOR $5.8 MILLION.

POLICE SEARCH FOR STOLEN NEW YORK ART COLLECTION

AUTHORITIES ARE RAMPING UP THEIR EFFORT TO SOLVE A MANHATTAN MYSTERY: WHO DRILLED A HOLE INTO THE HOME OF A BEEF FORTUNE HEIR AND STOLE A COLLECTION OF ICONIC ARTWORKS BY ROY LICHTENSTEIN AND ANDY WARHOL. THE THIEVES ALSO MADE OFF WITH SURVEILLANCE VIDEO FOOTAGE THAT MIGHT HAVE CAUGHT THEM IN THE ACT. THE NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT RELEASED IMAGES OF THE ART, HOPING SOMEONE MIGHT HELP SOLVE LAST MONTH'S CRIME IN THE TRENDY MEATPACKING DISTRICT BY RECOGNIZING WORKS LIKE THE WELL-KNOWN LICHTENSTEIN PRINT CALLED 'THINKING NUDE'. AUTHORITIES ESTIMATE THE FIVE-STORY APARTMENT WAS BURGLARIZED SOMETIME DURING THANKSGIVING WEEK, WHEN THE OWNER AND ART COLLECTOR ROBERT ROMANOFF WAS AWAY. ALSO TAKEN FROM THE BUILDING WAS A LICHTENSTEIN PRINT CALLED 'MOONSCAPE', THE CARL FUDGE OIL PAINTING 'LIVE CAT', THE WARHOL PRINTS 'THE TRUCK' AND 'SUPERMAN', AND A SET OF EIGHT SIGNED WARHOL PRINTS FROM 1968 CALLED 'CAMOUFLAGE'. THEY'RE AMONG THE ARTIST'S LAST WORKS BEFORE HIS DEATH THE FOLLOWING YEAR. AUTHORITIES ESTIMATE THE ARTWORKS, PLUS A STOLEN CARTIER AND ROLEX WATCHES AND OTHER JEWELRY, ARE WORTH OVER $750,000. THE ROMANOFF HOME IS IN A NEIGHBORHOOD FILLED WITH OLD WAREHOUSES AND MEATPACKING COMPANIES NOW TURNED INTO RETAIL AND LIVING SPACE, RESTAURANTS AND BOUTIQUES. POLICE SAY THE THIEF DRILLED A HOLE THROUGH THE WALL OF A HALLWAY SOMETIME BETWEEN 24-28.NOVEMBER. LICHTENSTEIN, WHO DIED IN 1997, CREATED 'THINKING NUDE' IN 1994, ONE OF 40 ILLUSTRATED EDITION WORKS THAT ARE PART OF HIS 'NUDES' SERIES BASED ON COMIC-BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS. A SIMILAR PRINT RECENTLY SOLD FOR $85,000 AT CHRISTIE'S, ACCORDING TO THE AUCTION HOUSE'S WEBSITE. WARHOL'S 'SUPERMAN' PRINT IS PART OF HIS 1980s 'MYTHS' SERIES FEATURING FICTIONAL CHARACTERS WITH MASS-CULTURAL APPEAL, INCLUDING MICKEY MOUSE AND UNCLE SAM.

DOM PERIGNON: A TRIBUTE TO ANDY WARHOL

DOM PERIGNON ONE OF THE WORLD'S FINEST LUXURY CHAMPAGNES RECENTLY PAID TRIBUTE TO ARTIST ANDY WARHOL, THE FOUNDER OF POP ART. IT IS THE FIRST TIME IN ITS HISTORY THAT DOM PERIGNON HAS REINTERPRETED ITS ICONIC LABEL BY DRESSING IT WITH SIX VIVID NEON COLOURS CHARACTERISTIC OF WARHOL'S RENOWNED PAINTINGS. TAKING INSPIRATION FROM WARHOL'S TALENT AND INNOVATION USE OF COLOURS, DOM PERIGNON HAS LAUNCHED SPECIAL EDITION BOTTLES OF THEIR FINE CHAMPAGNE IN SIX DIFFERENT COLOURS, WHICH INCLUDE BLUE, EMERALD GREEN, RED, LILAC, VIOLET, AND YELLOW. THE STUNNING LIMITED EDITION BOTTLES WILL BE AVAILABLE IN SPAIN AND THROUGH THE DOM PERIGNON WEBSITE. THE EXCLUSIVE PROGRAM WILL RUN UNTIL YEAR END.

HAY HILL GALLERY TO PRESENT WARHOL EXHIBITION

FIFTY IMPORTANT WORKS BY ANDY WARHOL ARE ON VIEW AT THE HAY HILL GALLERY, LONDON, THIS SUMMER. THE EXHIBITION OFFERS A RARE AND FASCINATING INSIGHT INTO WARHOL'S CREATIVE MIND AND WORKING PROCESSES, WITH AN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF WORKS JUXTAPOSED WITH THEIR PREPARATORY DRAWINGS. HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE A UNIQUE COLLECTION OF ANDY WARHOL'S INDIANS (NATIVE AMERICANS)(1986), EXHIBITED ALONGSIDE THE WORKING DRAWINGS. THESE SEVENTEEN WORKS OF ART FORM AN IMPORTANT PART OF WARHOLS' OEUVRE. THEY PROVIDE A ROUNDED STUDY OF WARHOL'S GRAPHS PROCESS IN THE 1980s AND A FITTING MANIFESTATIONS OF HIS LATER OBSESSION WITH AMERICAN CULTURE, PARTICULARLY THE STORIES, MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE AMERICAN WEST. BASED ON PUBLICITY AND ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPHS AS WELL AS POSTCARDS, WARHOL ROMANTICIZES STEREOTYPED AND EXPLOITED IMAGES OF AMERICAN INDIANS INCLUDING MOTHER AND CHILD, INDIAN HEAD NICKELS, PLAIN INDIAN SHIELD, KACHINA DOLLS, SITTING BULL, GERONIMO AND NORTHWEST COAST MASK. THERE IS ALSO A RANGE OF HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE WORKS INCLUDING THE SCREAM (AFTER EDVARD MUNCH)(1984), PART OF A SERIES OF WORKS BASED ON THE PAINTINGS OF THE NORWEGIAN ARTIST, AND SHADOWS (1978), FROM WARHOL'S MONUMENTAL SHADOWS SERIES. IN THE 1970s WARHOL EMBARKED ON A REMARKABLE AND AMBITIOUS PROJECT, CREATING 102 PAINTINGS BASED ON EIGHT PHOTOGRAPHS OF SHADOWS THAT HE HAD TAKEN IN HIS STUDIO. THE RESULT IS A COMPELLING AND ALMOST HYPNOTIC SERIES, DRIFTING INTO THE ABSTRACT.
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SOTHEBY'S TO SELL RARE ICONIC 1986 WARHOL SELF-PORTRAIT

AN ICONIC AND RARE SELF PORTRAIT BY ANDY WARHOL, EXECUTED IN 1986 JUST PRIOR TO HIS UNEXPECTED DEATH THE FOLLOWING YEAR, WILL BE OFFERED BY SOTHEBY'S 12.MAY IN A SALE OF CONTEMPORARY ART. THE PAINTING IS FROM WARHOL'S FINAL SERIES OF SELF PORTRAITS, WIDELY ACKNOWLEDGED AS THE MOST IMPORTANT OF HIS ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER. THE MONUMENTAL CANVAS, MEASURING 108 x 108in, IS ONE OF ONLY A HANDFUL EXECUTED BY THE ARTIST AND ONE OF ONLY TWO THAT ARE KNOWN TO BE PRIVATELY HELD. ESTIMATED TO SELL FOR $10 TO $15 MILLION, THE PAINTING WILL BE SHOWN IN HONG KONG AND LONDON PRIOR TO ITS EXHIBITION AND SALE IN NEW YORK. THE SERIES OF 1986 PORTRAITS WOULD BE THE ARTIST'S LAST, PAINTED JUST PRIOR TO HIS DEATH IN FEBRUARY 1987. WHILE THE ARTIST CREATED SELF PORTRAITS THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER, THE MAJORITY DATE FROM THE 1960s AND 1970s. WHEN WARHOL CREATED THE 1986 SERIES, IT HAD BEEN QUITE SOME TIME SINCE HE HAD DEALT WITH HIS OWN ICONIC IMAGE.PREVIOUS 1960s SELF PORTRAITS HAD BEEN BASED ON STRIPS OF IMAGES TAKEN IN A PHOTO BOOTH, WHILE THE 1986 WORKS ARE BASED ON POLAROIDS WHICH HE HAD USED THROUGHOUT THE 1970s AS SOURCE IMAGES. WEARING HIS TRADEMARK SIGNATURE 'FRIGHT WIG', WARHOL'S SELF IMAGE OVERWHELMS THE INKY BLACK CANVAS SURFACE, CONFRONTING THE VIEWER WITH A DIRECT AND HAUNTING GAZE. WHILE MANY OF THE LARGE-FORMAT 1986 SELF-PORTRAITS MEASURE 80 x 80 INCHES, THIS MONUMENTAL PAINTING IS ONE OF ONLY A HANDFUL ON THE SCALE OF 108 x 108 INCHES, EACH WITH A DIFFERENT GROUND THAN THE CURRENT PURPLE SELF-PORTRAIT. THE SELF-PORTRAITS HAVE AN ELEGIAC AND MYSTICAL INTENSITY AND ARE THE PENULTIMATE STATEMENT OF THE ARTIST'S CONTRADICTORY NATURE AS A FLAMBOYANTLY PUBLIC PERSONALITY WHO WAS ULTIMATELY ENIGMATIC AS A PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL.