Andy Warhol (American, 1930-1987). Untitled (flowers and ferns) ink and watercolor, ca. 1958. Signed by the artist in black ink below the artwork. A blotted-line drawing in black ink embellished with watercolor and depicting a near-symmetrical composition featuring two fern plants of citrine hues with floral blossoms of tangerine, vermilion, and white, as well as sprigs of buttercup yellow leaves. In addition to being signed in black ink below the image, the artist's estate stamp ("The Estate of Andy Warhol") is on the verso, as well as an exhibition label for the Dumont-Landis Fine Art gallery. Size of artwork: 10.875" L x 14.125" W (27.6 cm x 35.9 cm) Size of frame: 12.875" L x 15.875" W (32.7 cm x 40.3 cm)
The subject of this piece is particularly unusual, because Andy Warhol's life and art were more typically focussed on consumer culture, celebrity, and mechanical reproduction. Indeed, Warhol was a champion of the Pop Art movement and responded to mass-media culture like his contemporaries Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, and Roy Lichtenstein. Warhol created masterful silk-screen prints such as his 32 Campbell's Soup Cans (1962), Brillo pad box sculptures, and portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, in characteristic hard edges and a candy-like color palette. "The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do," he once explained. Indeed, Andy Warhol created some of the most iconic images of the 20th century; however, this particular work departs from his usual themes, making it all the more special.
Andy Warhol was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1949 and then moved to New York City to pursue commercial art, working for fashion magazines like Glamour and Vogue. In the 1960s, Warhol rented a studio loft in Midtown Manhattan, famously later known as The Factory. The Factory was a hub for artists, movie stars, and models, who became subjects and inspiration for Warhol's prints and films. In addition, the space served as a performance venue for the The Velvet Underground, an American rock band led by singer/guitarist Lou Reed which Warhol managed. By the 1980s, Warhol was also collaborating with rising artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Following Warhol's death at age 58, due to complications from routine gall bladder surgery, his estate became The Andy Warhol Foundation. In 1994, The Andy Warhol Museum museum opened in his native Pittsburgh. Today, Warhol's works are appreciated throughout the world and may be viewed in major museum collections such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and the Tate Gallery in London.
See a similar piece by Andy Warhol in the Minneapolis Institute of Art - Accession Number 2003.228.70. Although the MIA's piece presents the same subject, it is painted with sightly different palette and signed at the side rather than below.
A digital copy of an evaluation of this piece by art historian and award-winning TV personality Dr. Lori Verderame is available upon request.
This piece has been searched against the Art Loss Register database and has been cleared. The Art Loss Register maintains the world’s largest database of stolen art, collectibles, and antiques.
Provenance: private Ontario, Canada collection, acquired from Estate sale and gifted from sister; ex Dumont-Landis Fine Art, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
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#167276
Condition
Signed by the artist in black ink below the artwork. Artist's estate stamp ("The Estate of Andy Warhol") on verso. Dumont-Landis Fine Art, New Brunswick, New Jersey exhibition label on verso. Artwork has not been examined outside the frame but appears to be in excellent condition. Frame is intact and fitted with a suspension hook.