Andy Warhol

each: signed and stamp-numbered 136/250 on the reverse, published by Factory Additions, New York

the complete portfolio of 10 colour screenprints on paper, accompanied by the original stamp-numbered box



each: 91.4 by 91.4cm.; 36 by 36in.



Executed in 1967, this work is number 136 from an edition of 250 plus 26 artist’s proofs.

Private Collection, Europe

Christie's, London, Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale, 4 February 2004, Lot 5

Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Hamburg, Hamburg Kunsthalle; and Pittsburgh, The Andy Warhol Museum, Andy Warhol. Photography, 1999-2000, p. 55, another example illustrated in colour

Fécamp, Palais Bénédictine, Andy Warhol: Pop' Star, 2000, n.p., illustrated in colour

Milan, Triennale di Milano, The Andy Warhol Show, 2004-05, pp. 88-89, no. 11, another example illustrated in colour

Naples, Palazzo delle Arti di Napoli, Andy Warhol, Vetrine, 2014, pp. 126-27, another example illustrated in colour

Hermann Wünsche, Andy Warhol: Das Graphische Werk 1962-1980, Bonn 1980, p. 39, illustrated in colour

Germano Celant, Ed., Super Warhol, Milan 2003, pp. 266-67, no. 114, another example illustrated in colour

Freyda Feldman and Jörg Schellmann, Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonné 1962-1967, New York 2003, pp. 68-69, no. 11.22-31, another example illustrated in colour

The full sheets, printed to the edges, the colours fresh and vibrant, in very good condition, each framed. There is a slight creased indentation at the centre bottom of each sheet edge, some minor wear to the extreme sheet edges (occasionally with associated very minor pigment loss). Each sheet verso with pale backboard-staining, remains of previous hinges along the sheet edges, occasionally with associated skinning (one minutely covering the signature (FS II.29) and five partially covering the numbering (FS II.24, 26, 29, 30, 31)). (Occasional printing imperfections are inherent to the production and not a condition defect.) Other minor imperfections to individual sheets are: FS II.22 a soft handling crease at centre of right sheet edge, slightly broken through the ink surface. FS II.23 with a tiny accretion and a soft handling crease in the grey at lower right, the '250' of the numbering has been skinned. (There is a vertical linear printing imperfection in the subject's left temple.) FS II.24 infrequent faint surface scuffs are visible in the mat black background in a raking light. FS II.25 with two soft handling creases in the maroon of the subject's neck, one is slightly broken with the green pigment showing through. FS II.26 with two soft handling creases in the subject's face, one which has broken through very slightly, a few additional handling creases predominately near the sheet edges (only visible in a raking light). FS II.28 with a minute vertical crease in the green background to the left of the subject's lips (the yellow very slightly showing through). FS II.29 faint surface scuffs in the mat background toward sheet edges, three soft handling creases at centre lower sheet edge (visible in a raking light), corrugated cardboard-staining verso. FS II.30 two soft handling creases in the subject's face and another in the background at lower right have slightly broken through, two handling creases at the extreme right sheet edge (only visible in a raking light). FS II.31 a soft handling crease and faint surface scuffing at lower right corner (only visible in a raking light).
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

At the height of her fame in the 1950s and early 60s, there were few more celebrated figures in American culture than Marilyn Monroe. Warhol’s instantly recognisable and wildly popular representations of Monroe have played a major part in her lasting reputation as a cultural icon and sex symbol many decades later. The present work, a portfolio of ten screenprints, printed in varied colour combinations in 1967, is without doubt amongst the most important and desirable of all Warhol’s graphic works. To see all ten of these works offered for auction, each numbered uniformly with their colours still fresh and vibrant, constitutes a rare opportunity to obtain a seminal piece of Pop art. This groundbreaking portfolio is emblematic of Warhol’s ability to challenge conventional notions of originality and beauty in art. Taking a publicity still for the 1953 film, Niagara, Warhol transformed an otherwise banal stock photograph into one of the most momentous images of mid twentieth-century art.

In the late 1960s, Andy Warhol began publishing print portfolios with the art dealer David Whitney under the name Factory Additions. These works originated from some of his most famous subjects produced earlier in the decade such as Marilyn, Flowers and Campbell’s Soup. Warhol had begun experimenting with screeprinting in 1962, originally as a method for producing paintings from blown up photographs. Later he used silkscreens to create editioned prints, such as the Marilyn portfolio. From the 1960s onwards, prints became a hugely significant component of Warhol’s artistic output. These Marilyn prints were Warhol’s first technically complex prints, allowing the artist to achieve more than he had previously been able to with the medium. “Although the Marilyn paintings had been realised in an array of colours, these went further: a palette of fiery reds, hot and pale pink, and other saturated hues transforms [sic] Marilyn’s face into even more of a fiction than the carefully crafted publicity still from which it was originally derived” (Donna de Salvo, ‘God is in the details: The Prints of Andy Warhol’, in: Freyda Feldman and Jörg Schellmann, Eds., Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonné, 1962-1967, New York 2003, p. 24).

In his depiction of Monroe, Warhol assumed the same cool and detached perspective with which he approached all of his subjects including consumer goods, celebrities, sex and disasters. However Marilyn Monroe was perhaps Warhol’s only subject that was able to fit into all of these categories; she was tragic, sexy and consumable all at the same time, making her the perfect embodiment of the artist’s ideals, and in fact, of the ideals of Pop art more generally.