Andy Warhol

Gagosian Gallery, New York
Mulier Mulier Gallery, Knokke-Zoute
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the top red pigment tends more towards a bright orange in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There is light wear to all four corner tips with associated paint loss and fine, intermittent tension cracks along all four extreme edges. There is a further tiny spot of paint loss above the centre of the right extreme turnover edge. Upon close inspection, there is an extremely fine circular crack towards the centre of the top right hand quadrant, visible in the catalogue illustration, and a further tiny crack towards the centre of the lower left hand quadrant. Examination under ultra-violet light reveals two very small spots of retouching that fluoresce towards the centre of the lower left hand quadrant.
"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."

 

"Buying is much more American than thinking... Americans are not so interested in selling. What they really like to do is buy."  Andy Warhol, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: from A to Z and back Again, New York 1975, p. 229

Executed nearly two decades after the first of Warhol's money paintings, the single Dollar Sign series of the early 1980s provides the ultimate expression of his lifelong fascination with consumerism. Like Warhol's first Pop paintings which examined the relationship between big business and the common man through enlarged icons of consumerism like Coca Cola and Campbell's Soup, Warhol here similarly takes the currency of this relationship and presents it with all the brazen euphoria synonymous with that decade. No longer taking the entire bill as their subject but instead focusing in upon the unabashed icon of money – the isolated '$' – Warhol hones in on arguably the biggest brand of all. One of the most recognisable logos anywhere in the world, the '$' sign is simultaneously a symbol of the American Dream and an international denominator for wealth. Isolated on a rich lavender ground, the currency symbol takes on an almost totemic status. Pulsating through the saturated layer of pure colour, off-set multiple impressions of the '$' motif in shades of red, orange, green and gold appear to throb against the background. Filling the entire height of the small-scale canvas, this oversized symbol of wealth is rendered with the immaculate clarity of Warhol's perfected silkscreen technique.