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Andy Warhol Flower 1985 synthetic polymer and silkscreen ink on canvas 51 x 40.8 cm. (20 1/8 x 16 1/8 in.) Signed and dated 'Andy Warhol 85' on the overlap. Stamped by the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board, Inc. and numbered 'A103.009' on the overlap.
Provenance Acquired directly from the artist The Collection of Frederick W. Hughes Private Collection, Rome Catalogue Essay “Even when the subject is different, people always paint the same painting… the more you look at the same exact thing, the more the meaning goes away, and the better and emptier you feel.” ANDY WARHOL This late work from Andy Warhol depicts one of his late flower paintings in a two-toned canvas. Simplistic in its approach, it is both a symbol of life as well as a memento for its transience. Turning to flower inspiration throughout his career, Warhol’s floral imagery can be traced back to the 1960s. His most memorable floral show was in Leo Catelli’s prestigious gallery in 1964 where the focus were the flower paintings made from appropriations of a photograph of flowers by Patricia Caufeld for Modern Photographers magazine, a show that marked his ascension into the art world. The immediate success of this show that quickly sold out reflects the attractive motif that stands beautiful at the peak of its existence but is a constant reminder of what will eventually wither and die. Warhol’s Untitled (Flower for Tacoma Dome) from 1982, became another popular flower which was made into a painting by a commission proposal for the City of Tacoma’s dome, a convention center in Tacoma, Washington. This work also had a decorative allure that reflected Warhol’s experience in graphic design, as did all of his flower paintings, but carried behind it a lurking reminder of death. The present lot captivates Warhol’s obsession with repetition and the pop aesthetic that he came to symbolize. His flowers functioned as a metaphor for vanitas and a memento mori representing the brevity of life. As with the other images, they held the iconographic consistency that would be an obsession for one of the masters of 20th century art and whose icons would influence contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons Takashi Murakami and Richard Prince Read More Artist Bio Andy Warhol American • 1928 - 1987 A seminal figure in the Pop Art movement of the early 1960s, Andy Warhol's paintings and screenprints are iconic beyond the scope of Art History, having become universal signifiers of an age. An early career in commercial illustration led to Warhol's appropriation of imagery from American popular culture and insistent concern with the superficial wonder of permanent commodification that yielded a synthesis of word and image, of art and the everyday. Warhol's obsession with creating slick, seemingly mass-produced artworks led him towards the commercial technique of screenprinting, which allowed him to produce large editions of his painted subjects. The clean, mechanical surface and perfect registration of the screenprinting process afforded Warhol a revolutionary absence of authorship that was crucial to the Pop Art manifesto. View More Works