Andy Warhol

40 silver prints, each signed in pencil on the reverse and numbered '3/15' in an unknown hand.

Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich
Acquired directly from the above

Cologne, Chapel Art Center, Andy Warhol: Die Sammlung Gunter Sachs, 1995

Andy Warhol and Bob Colacello, Andy Warhol's Exposures: Photographs by Andy Warhol, London 1979, illustrations of other examples

The prints are generally in very good to excellent condition. The corners are occasionally slightly bumped; some occasional light folds. One print (Arnold Schwarzenegger) with a small loss to the gelatin layer, outside the image.
"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."

(i) Arnold Schwarzenegger at Warhol's Factory, New York
(ii) Muhammed Ali, with wife and child at his training camp 'Fighter's Haven', Pennsylvania
(iii) Joseph Beuys and Edy de Wilde at Thomas Messer's house, New York
(iv) Dustin Hoffman, his daughter Jennifer and her babysitter, New York
(v) A corner of Truman Capote's apartment, New York
(vi) Francis Bacon and friend, Paris
(vii) Liza Minnelli and John Lennon at Warhol's Factory, New York
(viii) Diana Ross and daughter at home, New York
(ix) Mrs Gilbert Miller at home, New York
(x) President Jimmy Carter, Plains, Georgia
(xi) Elizabeth Taylor Warner at Halston's house, New York
(xii) J. Paul Getty III with Paul Getty IV, London
(xiii) Jacqueline Onassis, Hotel Pierre, New York
(xiv) Paulette Goddard, New York
(xv) Table at the New York home of Richard E. Berlin, retired president of the Hearst Corporation
(xvi) Paloma Picasso and her husband Rafael López-Sánchez, Paris
(xvii) David Hockney at Warhol's Factory, New York
(xviii) Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones at Warhol's Factory, New York
(xix) Juan Hamilton and Georgia O'Keefe, Abiquiu, New Mexico
(xx) Truman Capote at the office of Plastic Surgeon Dr Norman Orentreich, New York
(xxi) President Gerald Ford, Washington, D.C.
(xxii) Yves Saint Laurent and Lauren Bacall at Studio 54, New York
(xxiii) Lilian Gish, Lynn Redgrave, Bernadette Peters, Maureen Stapleton, Anita Loos and Paulette Goddard at the apartment of Milton Goldman and Arnold Weissberger, New York
(xxiv) The Oval Office, The White House, Washington, D.C.
(xxv) Elizabeth Taylor Warner, Bella Abzug and Shirley MacLaine at Bella's birthday party, New York
(xxvi) Ginger Rogers at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York
(xxvii) Liza Minnelli after a performance of 'The Act', New York
(xxviii) Truman Capote and Bob Colacello at Studio 54, New York
(xxix) Raquel Welch at the Westbury Music Fair, Westbury, Long Island
(xxx) William Burroughs at 65 Irving Place, New York
(xxxi) Robert Rauschenberg and Jacob Lawrence, Washington, D.C.
(xxxii) Bette Midler at the Club Sept, Paris
(xxxiii) Lou Reed at Warhol's Factory, New York
(xxxiv) Marisa Berenson Randall and Alana Hamilton Stewart at Marisa's wedding, Beverly Hills, California
(xxxv) Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston, Hollywood, California
(xxxvi) Sylvester Stallone at the Regency Hotel, New York
(xxxvii) Boaz Mazor, Catherine Guinness, John Richardson, Barbara Allen and Philip Niarchos, New York
(xxxviii) Andy Warhol's Factory, New York
(xxxix) Andy Warhol's dog Archie dressed as the Pope, New York
(xl) Mick Jagger, Montauk, Long Island

Andy Warhol - 40 Photographs -  1980

Photography played an important role in Andy Warhol's artistic practice from the moment he realized that he could snap the face of any star he met and turn it into a silkscreen immortalizing an instantly recognisable icon. In the last interview he gave, Warhol commented that photography was one reason why he switched from commercial to fine art: illustrators for adverts and magazines were put out of business by photographers. In the 1950s he collected photographs by Man Ray, whose photographic work he admired. He also had an interest in the fashion and portrait photographs of Edward Steichen, Cecil Beaton and Irving Penn.  The creation of his magazine Interview in 1969 enabled Warhol to pursue his interest in photography, focusing on celebrities and the documentation of events. It also became a platform for young photographers such as Robert Mapplethorpe, Bruce Weber and Herb Ritts who published their work in the magazine.

Warhol once acknowledged he had "Social Disease". He had to go out every night, always taking his camera everywhere, because having a few rolls of film to develop gave him a good reason to get up in the morning. From 1976, when he bought the new Minox 35EL, he constantly used his camera shooting several rolls of film per week. The buying of this camera launched a major activity which led to the production of an ample, complex and independent body of work. The core production period of Warhol's photographic oeuvre was from 1976 to 1987, and several thousand of his black and white photographs are today counted in the artist's archives.

Despite this, Warhol only produced two portfolios of his photographic work, both resulting from exhibition demand for his images in 1979 after his Swiss gallerist, Bruno Bischofberger, purchased a set of prints from the images illustrated in Warhol's 1979 photo book Exposures and offered them to several European museums for exhibition. Following positive responses from all of them, Warhol offered to make large prints to show in the exhibitions. Both portfolios contained selected works from the Exposures series, predominantly featuring Warhol's friends, the stars from the realms of art, music, sport, politics, fashion and socialites. His idea of a good picture was that it was in focus and of a famous person doing something unfamous. In his opinion it was all about being in the right place at the wrong time.

Initially, a portfolio of twelve prints in an edition of 250 was produced. However as 12 prints were not sufficient and more material was needed to equip the planned museum shows, Warhol together with Bischofberger decided to publish a second portfolio of 40 prints, this time in an edition of only 15. All 52 large 20 by 16 inch photographs were exhibited under the title of Social Disease in 11 German museums between 1992 and 1994. The present photographic portfolio of 40 lots is one of Warhol's great mature works in which we see his lifelong fascination with celebrity extending to the banal and everyday. By the late 1970s Warhol had become as famous as the stars and icons he now counted amongst his friends. Unlike his paintings which always maintained mysterious distance in their presentation of Warhol's artistic persona, his photographs show him and his innermost circle at its most intimate and exposed.