Andy Warhol

Meshulam Riklis Collection, New York
Private Collection
Lang & O'Hara Gallery, New York
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, Contemporary Art, 5 November 1987, Lot 157
Private Collection, Japan
Galerie Vedovi, Brussels
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Corpus Christi, Art Museum of South Texas, Johns, Stella, Warhol: Works in Series, 1972, p. 34, illustrated in colour
Mexico D.F., Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Andy Warhol, 1999

Rainer Crone, Das Bildnerische Werk Andy Warhols, Berlin 1976, no. 580
David Bourdon, Warhol, New York 1989, pl. 254, illustrated in colour
Exhibition Catalogue, Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art; London, Anthony d'Offay Gallery; Bilbao, Sala de Exposiciones, Andy Warhol: Portraits of the Seventies and Eighties, 1993-94, no. 3, illustrated in colour
Exhibition Catalogue, New York, Gagosian Gallery, Pop Art: The John and Kimiko Powers Collection, 2001, p. 10, illustrated in colour
Neil Printz and Sally King-Nero, Eds., The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné: Paintings and Sculptures 1970 - 1974, Vol. 3, New York 2010, no. 2178, pp. 105, 107, illustrated in colour, p. 109, installation view in colour

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although there are more magenta undertones in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Very close inspection reveals some light wear to the corner tips, notably to the lower left corner tip. Further very close inspection reveals an unobtrusive, pinhead-sized spec of loss on the lower edge, approximately 2cm. from the lower left corner tip. Extremely close inspection reveals a few very light handling marks towards the edges. Visible in raking light, there are a few rub marks to the black of the figure's hair. There is a faint stretcher bar mark along the lower edge, with minute staple punctures, which are likely to be associated with the previous stretching of the canvas. There is a spot of unobtrusive surface irregularity which fluoresces light when examined under ultraviolet 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."

In 1971 Andy Warhol bought what would become one of the most effective tools in his practice; a Big Shot Polaroid camera. With its new design, the camera was a new and revolutionary gadget that excited Warhol. Vincent Fremont, who joined the studio that same year described how “when using the Big Shot, Andy would move forward and backward while looking through the viewer to make the double image become one. Once the subject was ‘locked in’, Andy would trip a simple lever at the end of the camera to make the exposure. The flash would go off, the film would be pulled out, and after a wait of sixty seconds, the picture could be seen. Instant photography was important for Andy for this reason” (Vincent Freemont quoted in: Neil Printz and Sally King-Nero, Eds., The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné: Paintings and Sculptures 1970 - 1974, Vol. 3, New York 2010, p. 60). One of the very first photographs taken with that camera was that of Kimiko Powers, and this was the image the artist used as a source for his series of portraits of her.

At the time John Powers commissioned Warhol to create a portrait of his wife, he had already been collecting the artist’s work since the early 1960s, and his was amongst the best collections of Pop Art assembled. Powers commissioned Warhol to make twenty-five 40-by-40 inch canvases of Kimiko, clad in a traditional Japanese kimono and with an elegantly styled chignon. Once assembled as a whole, the colossal portrait stood at 5 by 5metres in total, eclipsing Warhol’s own 2 by 3.65 metre groundbreaking 1963 commission, Ethel Scull 36 Times. The present work, however, is not merely an attempt to infuse Kimiko’s image with an aura of celebrity, as many of Warhol's society portraits were. Here, Kimiko Powers appears as a graceful and elegant figure, a captivating image that stares at the viewer mysteriously.

The entire commission was exhibited at the inaugural show at the Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi organised by David Whitney. Taking up an entire wall in the exhibition space, the installation of Kimiko Powers was shown alongside a selection of Warhol’s Flowers and Self Portraits, emphasising the importance of seriality within the artist’s oeuvre. After the exhibition, the monumental installation was divided and the portraits went on to belong either to the couple’s personal collection or to close friends of theirs.

With her enigmatic stare and elegant poise Kimiko Powers is a powerful image, one of the first of Warhol’s iconic ‘society portraits’ that would define his practice of the 1970s and 80s.