Andy is his blue period
Of the various personas adopted by Andy Warhol over the years, the earliest—before the fright wigs, corsets, and ever-spiraling eccentricity took hold—is still the most appealing. You won’t find a better example of the artist at his most stylish than this 1963 self portrait, which goes up for auction at Christie’s next Wednesday. It’s comprised of four silkscreen panels taken from a photo booth, and Warhol’s look is very, well, 2011: trench coat, slim tie, and a rounded riff on the wayfarer (which was recreated by Oliver Peoples). The estimated sale price? A bargain at $20 million to $30 million.
Fans of the artist’s late-career work, meanwhile, have been making a big deal over another self-portrait (below) which is also up for auction on the 11th. (It’s appeared in both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times over the past few days.) Painted in 1986, not long before Warhol died, the work expected to pull in even more—up to $40 million. Call it a reflection of an artist’s ever-expanding ego: the late portrait measures nearly nine feet tall while the earlier one is a more modest three-and-a-half feet. Ultimately, though, this is a case where style trumps size. And if you can’t swing $20 million for a painting, you should at least try to snag some of Warhol’s early-’60s Pop star style.
Photo: Courtesy of Christie's
