Sale: 535 / Evening Sale with Collection Hermann Gerlinger, Dec. 09. 2022 in Munich Lot 60

 

60
Andy Warhol
Portrait of Anselmino, 1974.
Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas
Estimate:
€ 300,000 / $ 324,000
Sold:
€ 375,000 / $ 405,000

(incl. surcharge)
Portrait of Anselmino. 1974.
Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas.
Printz 2741. Inscribed "Anselmino AW 3/4" on the folded canvas. 101.5 x 101.5 cm (39.9 x 39.9 in).

• Anselmino was one of the 1970s most dazzling art market personalities.
• Anselmino commissioned Warhol with the seminal series "Ladies and Gentleman".
• One of four portraits of the art dealer that were made in 1974, of which no one has ever been offered on the international auction market (source: artprice.com).
• Warhol puts silkscreen printing at eye level with painting–with the gestural finger painting, Warhol adds another level of expression.
• Since May 9, 2022, Andy Warhol's painting "Shot sage blue Marilyn" is the most expensive 20th century artwork
.

PROVENANCE: Luciano Anselmino.
Presumably Studio Marconi.
Tornabuoni Arte, Crans-Montana.
Private collection (since 1999, acquired directly from the above).

Andy Warhol – Superstar

Andy Warhol is one of the biggest stars of the international auction market, and his works usually guarantee lengthy bidding wars. Earlier this year, Christie's auctioned the painting "Shot sage blue Marilyn" for €160,743,500 million, making it the most expensive 20th-century work of art ever sold at auction. With the bid, Andy Warhol pushed Pablo Picasso and Jean-Michel Basquiat down a place in the auction ranking. Warhol was a radical and visionary pop artist who, in an age of immense social, political and technological change, had a new idea of what art could be. A gay man growing up at a time when sex between men was illegal in the United States, Warhol joined New York's queer community of designers, poets, dancers and artists. In the 1950s and 1960s, he became the king of the New York avant-garde and one of the most important and iconic artists of the 20th century. By the 1970s, Warhol had become an international celebrity himself. He was photographed regularly and was a paparazzi himself, when he shot photographs of celebrities such as Grace Jones and Debbie Harry at venues like Studio 54. Warhol went out out every night, which he once described as his "social sickness". This way Warhol not only popularized his work, but also strengthened his distinctive public identity. Some US art critics have called his social gatherings and the lucrative business model of making portraits of the rich and powerful a "sellout". However, these activities also helped to fund his more experimental art projects.
The occupation with the concept of the portrait runs through the artist’s entire oeuvre, however, it culminated in the commissioned portraits of his late creative period. In order to support his costly lifestyle, the portraits were prioritized. Regardless of the actual projects he was working on, there were always several portraits in production in a corner of his loft. He offered wealthy clients the opportunity to be included in his pantheon of well-known personalities and celebrities, according to his famous saying "in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes", to achieve fame simply by being the subject of a typical Warhol portrait. Production was always preceded by a lengthy photo shoot, in which he created scores of Polaroids that provided the basis. The result is a portrait characteristic of Warhol, based on photography and created with acrylic paint and silk-screen ink. Similar to other works of the period, Warhol added expressive brushstrokes and gestural finger painting to the print to explore the relationship between the silkscreen layer and the painted background. While the black silkscreen provides the frame, the paint, which the artist also applied with his fingers, adds the pictorial element to the composition. For his commissioned works, Andy Warhol took his clients’ wishes into account, and he also considered every art collector’s desire to own a unique piece. The number of canvases with the same motif became smaller, the variations more diverse. Four portraits of Anselmino were made, all of which were still in his possession at the time of his untimely death. The provenance is only known for the portrait offered here, the three other portraits are considered lost. [SM]



60
Andy Warhol
Portrait of Anselmino, 1974.
Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas
Estimate:
€ 300,000 / $ 324,000
Sold:
€ 375,000 / $ 405,000

(incl. surcharge)