Andy Warhol
![Andy Warhol - Contemporary Art I Andy Warhol - Contemporary Art I](/fileadmin/lot-images/38M210623/normal/andy-warhol-7229173.jpg)
(Pittsburgh 1928–1987 New York)
Portrait of a Lady, 1983, signed, dated Andy Warhol 83 on the overlap, acrylic and silkscreen on canvas, 101.6 x 101.6 cm, framed
Provenance:
Gift from the artist to Dorothy Blau
Private Collection, Minnesota
Private Collection, California
European Private Collection
Andy Warhol has been considered one of the leaders of Pop Art since the 1960s. He was a passionate photographer and carried a Polaroid camera with him from the 1960s until his death, taking snapshots of his encounters with famous people, his friends and himself. It was in this way that the artist documented his life. He often created his portraits and other works of art by using these photographs.
The theme of the portrait runs continuously through Warhol’s oeuvre and so the artist is also often called the portraitist of New York society. However, Andy Warhol photographed and portrayed not only New York society, but also friends, acquaintances and famous people. The present work shows a portrait of an attractive young woman in front of a monochrome, bright red background. The lady is shown in side profile, delicately turning her head to the left so that we can fully see her face. The viewer’s gaze first falls on her dark, red lips in the centre of the picture. She smiles discreetly at the viewer and also looks directly at them. She has a short hairstyle that exposes her left ear, revealing her distinctive gold ear clip. The pose and the turn of the head particularly emphasise the protagonist’s neck and shoulders. Against the monochrome red background, her fair skin appears almost white.
The red lips, the perfect complexion, the slender, graceful neck and the self-confident posture make the woman appear timelessly elegant and attractive. Although Warhol only allows a few facial features in the portrait of the young lady, these are sufficient to create a recognisable image. The image inspires curiosity, we want to know who the woman portrayed is. Is it a commissioned work? An acquaintance or friend of Andy Warhol? It is the grande dame of the American art scene, Dorothy Berenson Blau (1917-2014). She became known as a champion of contemporary art and a pioneer of the art scene in Miami. Both a gallery owner and good friend of Andy Warhol, she was one of the first to present his work in South Florida. Dorothy Berenson Blau was a driving force in Andy Warhol’s life and was instrumental in his success in the 1980s, the time at which the portrait was painted. Warhol depicted his patron several times throughout his life. The present work occupies a significant position within Warhol’s portraiture. Often his portrait works are rather sketchily executed, unlike the present piece, which stands out for its high-contrast brushwork and is particularly convincing in its plasticity. The intense colouring creates a unique attraction that captures the viewer and leads them into a constructed dialogue.
Moreover, her depiction is reminiscent of an icon of art history - the Girl with a Pearl Earring by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. Warhol uses the same positioning and composition and a closer look at the two images reveals further parallels: in both depictions, the light falls from the left and the chosen perspective is also identical. What is particularly striking is that both women are wearing distinctive earrings. In Vermeer’s 17th-century painting, the earring has always been the focus of art historical research into the image.
The monochrome backgrounds mean that both depictions lack pictorial depth. The neutral backgrounds draw the focus to their faces and the prominent earrings and also enhance the brightness of the two womens’ skin. A fleeting moment is depicted in both images and the intermediate moment is visualised in the movement between turning towards and away. While the protagonists turn their heads over their shoulders towards the viewer, they meet our gaze with large, alert eyes.
In contrast to Warhol’s portrait of Dorothy Berenson Blau, it is not known who the sitter is in the painting by Johannes Vermeer. The Girl with a Pearl Earring is also not a classical portrait in the true sense of the word, but a tronie (Dutch term for head, face or facial expression, designating a genre of picture in representational painting). This means that it is only a portrait-like character study. Furthermore, there are no attributes to place the girl with the pearl earring in a broader narrative context.
When comparing the two images with each other, it is noticeable that the depicted women both interact with the viewer, they look at them directly and abruptly. The neutral background draws the viewer’s full attention to the faces of the portrayed women and generates curiosity in the viewer to find out who the portrayed women are.
To what extent Johannes Vermeer’s depiction of the girl with a pearl earring influenced Andy Warhol in the conception of the portrait, we do not know. However, we can assume that the latter artist was aware of the subject and its effect and ultimately shaped the design of the portrait. It would not be the first time that the Warhol made such an art-historical reference - he also adapted the motifs “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci, “Judith with the Head of Holofernes” by Lucas Cranach the Elder and “Goethe in the Campagna” by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein. Andy Warhol was fascinated by paintings that were ahead of their time.
“He made each of his sitters feel famous for those infamous '15 minutes'.
As his old Polaroid camera kept snapping and flashing,
you felt beautiful and glamorous - one of Andy's 'pretty women.”
Dorothy Berenson Blau
Specialist: Dr. Petra Maria Schäpers
Dr. Petra Maria Schäpers
+49 211 2107747
petra.schaepers@dorotheum.de
23.06.2021 - 16:00
- Realized price: **
-
EUR 450,213.-
- Estimate:
-
EUR 350,000.- to EUR 450,000.-
Andy Warhol
(Pittsburgh 1928–1987 New York)
Portrait of a Lady, 1983, signed, dated Andy Warhol 83 on the overlap, acrylic and silkscreen on canvas, 101.6 x 101.6 cm, framed
Provenance:
Gift from the artist to Dorothy Blau
Private Collection, Minnesota
Private Collection, California
European Private Collection
Andy Warhol has been considered one of the leaders of Pop Art since the 1960s. He was a passionate photographer and carried a Polaroid camera with him from the 1960s until his death, taking snapshots of his encounters with famous people, his friends and himself. It was in this way that the artist documented his life. He often created his portraits and other works of art by using these photographs.
The theme of the portrait runs continuously through Warhol’s oeuvre and so the artist is also often called the portraitist of New York society. However, Andy Warhol photographed and portrayed not only New York society, but also friends, acquaintances and famous people. The present work shows a portrait of an attractive young woman in front of a monochrome, bright red background. The lady is shown in side profile, delicately turning her head to the left so that we can fully see her face. The viewer’s gaze first falls on her dark, red lips in the centre of the picture. She smiles discreetly at the viewer and also looks directly at them. She has a short hairstyle that exposes her left ear, revealing her distinctive gold ear clip. The pose and the turn of the head particularly emphasise the protagonist’s neck and shoulders. Against the monochrome red background, her fair skin appears almost white.
The red lips, the perfect complexion, the slender, graceful neck and the self-confident posture make the woman appear timelessly elegant and attractive. Although Warhol only allows a few facial features in the portrait of the young lady, these are sufficient to create a recognisable image. The image inspires curiosity, we want to know who the woman portrayed is. Is it a commissioned work? An acquaintance or friend of Andy Warhol? It is the grande dame of the American art scene, Dorothy Berenson Blau (1917-2014). She became known as a champion of contemporary art and a pioneer of the art scene in Miami. Both a gallery owner and good friend of Andy Warhol, she was one of the first to present his work in South Florida. Dorothy Berenson Blau was a driving force in Andy Warhol’s life and was instrumental in his success in the 1980s, the time at which the portrait was painted. Warhol depicted his patron several times throughout his life. The present work occupies a significant position within Warhol’s portraiture. Often his portrait works are rather sketchily executed, unlike the present piece, which stands out for its high-contrast brushwork and is particularly convincing in its plasticity. The intense colouring creates a unique attraction that captures the viewer and leads them into a constructed dialogue.
Moreover, her depiction is reminiscent of an icon of art history - the Girl with a Pearl Earring by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. Warhol uses the same positioning and composition and a closer look at the two images reveals further parallels: in both depictions, the light falls from the left and the chosen perspective is also identical. What is particularly striking is that both women are wearing distinctive earrings. In Vermeer’s 17th-century painting, the earring has always been the focus of art historical research into the image.
The monochrome backgrounds mean that both depictions lack pictorial depth. The neutral backgrounds draw the focus to their faces and the prominent earrings and also enhance the brightness of the two womens’ skin. A fleeting moment is depicted in both images and the intermediate moment is visualised in the movement between turning towards and away. While the protagonists turn their heads over their shoulders towards the viewer, they meet our gaze with large, alert eyes.
In contrast to Warhol’s portrait of Dorothy Berenson Blau, it is not known who the sitter is in the painting by Johannes Vermeer. The Girl with a Pearl Earring is also not a classical portrait in the true sense of the word, but a tronie (Dutch term for head, face or facial expression, designating a genre of picture in representational painting). This means that it is only a portrait-like character study. Furthermore, there are no attributes to place the girl with the pearl earring in a broader narrative context.
When comparing the two images with each other, it is noticeable that the depicted women both interact with the viewer, they look at them directly and abruptly. The neutral background draws the viewer’s full attention to the faces of the portrayed women and generates curiosity in the viewer to find out who the portrayed women are.
To what extent Johannes Vermeer’s depiction of the girl with a pearl earring influenced Andy Warhol in the conception of the portrait, we do not know. However, we can assume that the latter artist was aware of the subject and its effect and ultimately shaped the design of the portrait. It would not be the first time that the Warhol made such an art-historical reference - he also adapted the motifs “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci, “Judith with the Head of Holofernes” by Lucas Cranach the Elder and “Goethe in the Campagna” by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein. Andy Warhol was fascinated by paintings that were ahead of their time.
“He made each of his sitters feel famous for those infamous '15 minutes'.
As his old Polaroid camera kept snapping and flashing,
you felt beautiful and glamorous - one of Andy's 'pretty women.”
Dorothy Berenson Blau
Specialist: Dr. Petra Maria Schäpers
Dr. Petra Maria Schäpers
+49 211 2107747
petra.schaepers@dorotheum.de
Buyers hotline
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kundendienst@dorotheum.at +43 1 515 60 200 |
Auction: | Contemporary Art I |
Auction type: | Saleroom auction with Live Bidding |
Date: | 23.06.2021 - 16:00 |
Location: | Vienna | Palais Dorotheum |
Exhibition: | 17.06. - 23.06.2021 |
** Purchase price incl. buyer's premium and VAT(Country of delivery: Austria)
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