Lot 3716* - A209 Prints & Multiples - Thursday, 20. June 2024, 10.00 AM
ANDY WARHOL
(Pittsburgh 1928–1987 New York)
Goethe. 1982.
Colour screenprint. 55/100. Signed in pencil lower left: Andy Warhol. On the reverse with the red Copyright stamp: Andy Warhol 1982 and the details of the publishers. Sheet size 96.5 × 96.5 cm on Lenox Museum Board. Published by Edition Schellmann & Klüser, Munich/Denise René & Hans Mayer, Düsseldorf.
Printed by Rupert Smith, New York (with the blind stamp embrosing).
From the same titled 4-part series.
Printed by Rupert Smith, New York (with the blind stamp embrosing).
From the same titled 4-part series.
Provenance:
- Formerly Galerie Hete Hünermann, Düsseldorf.
- Private collection, Germany, acquired from the above gallery in 1989.
Catalogue raisonné:
Feldmann/Schellmann, no. II.273.
In 1981, Andy Warhol visited the Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main and saw Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein's famous painting "Goethe in the Roman Campagna". Andy Warhol was unique in being able to hold a mirror to society and its icons, so it is not surprising that this painting inspired him to create a series of large-format colour silkscreens of Goethe the following year. As is so typical of Warhol, he took just one detail – the head in half-profile with hat – and created a "star portrait" by serialising it. He often used photos or contemporary documents as models for this approach, such as in the series featuring Mick Jagger, Mao, Marilyn or Elizabeth II, but at the same time he also regularly used icons from art history, such as Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" or even Tischbein's painting. His ambition to serve so-called popular culture is also evident in this work. A detail from an Old Master painting, elevated by its presence in a museum, depicting one of Germany's best-known and most influential poets, Goethe is brought down from its pedestal of uniqueness to join consumer society, where it becomes part of the popular culture of the second half of the 20th century.
Feldmann/Schellmann, no. II.273.
In 1981, Andy Warhol visited the Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main and saw Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein's famous painting "Goethe in the Roman Campagna". Andy Warhol was unique in being able to hold a mirror to society and its icons, so it is not surprising that this painting inspired him to create a series of large-format colour silkscreens of Goethe the following year. As is so typical of Warhol, he took just one detail – the head in half-profile with hat – and created a "star portrait" by serialising it. He often used photos or contemporary documents as models for this approach, such as in the series featuring Mick Jagger, Mao, Marilyn or Elizabeth II, but at the same time he also regularly used icons from art history, such as Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" or even Tischbein's painting. His ambition to serve so-called popular culture is also evident in this work. A detail from an Old Master painting, elevated by its presence in a museum, depicting one of Germany's best-known and most influential poets, Goethe is brought down from its pedestal of uniqueness to join consumer society, where it becomes part of the popular culture of the second half of the 20th century.
CHF 60 000 / 90 000 | (€ 61 860 / 92 780)
Sold for CHF 75 000 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.