Andy Warhol

Having been fascinated by the culture of celebrity throughout his life, by the 1970s, Warhol's own success and notoriety was such that his fame now rivalled that of stars he had first idolised. Seamlessly combining social life with business, he established himself as the foremost artist in America undertaking commissions from the stars in his circle: Mick Jagger, Yves Saint Laurent and Liza Minnelli, to name but a few. Even though he was as (if not more) famous than his sitters, he remained easily starstruck and admitted to being "thrilled to be able to know what colour eyes a person has just from looking at them, because colour TV still can't help you too much there." (Andy Warhol, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, Florida 1975, p. 80)

Warhol’s portraits from the 1970s were as beneficial for the reputations of the people in them as they were for the artist. For the sitters, it was a means of associating themselves with the instantly recognisable Warhol aesthetic, and for the artist it was a reflection of his rising stardom and a validation of his own celebrity status. As this portrait so clearly conveys, Warhol relished his privileged face to face access to the stars and icons of his time.

Jagger and Warhol, the two biggest stars at the time, had a longstanding friendship. The two men had first been introduced in the early 1960s by the rockstar's wife, Bianca, who used to spend time at Warhol's Factory as one of its celebrity 'regulars'. Having been impressed by Warhol's iconic 'Unpeeled' design for the Velvet Underground in 1967, Jagger asked him to create the cover for the Rolling Stones' forthcoming 'Sticky Fingers' album.

For this particular work, Warhol drew for the first time on his own source material: the images are based on photographs the artist himself took of the singer, rather than appropriating a publicity still or book cover. Jagger posed for Warhol in a series of Polaroid photographs, appearing bare-chested and scruffy-haired, and, as was typical of Warhol’s working method, the artist positioned his sitter against a white wall and shot numerous frames to capture the desired image. This work is from a set of ten in which Warhol depicts Mick Jagger in a variety of poses, unlike his earlier portraits of Marilyn Monroe or Chairman Mao, where the composition remains identical and only the colour scheme varies. The present composition, showing Jagger looking directly at the artist, is widely regarded as among the most sought-after images from the series. The impression captures exactly what Warhol was looking for: Jagger’s wildness, sensuality and exuberance.