Andy Warhol

(Pittsburgh 1928–1987 New York) Linda Cossey, on the overlap signed, dated Andy Warhol 1980, stamped Estate of Andy Warhol on the reverse with no. 892.103, acrylic and silkscreen on canvas, 101.5 x 101.5 cm, framed, (PP)

Certificate:
Estate of Andy Warhol, New York, ID no. A892.103

The work will be included in the forthcoming Andy Warhol Foundation catalogue raisonné (letter dated 1996).
Provenance:
Corcoran Gallery, Santa Monica (label on the reverse);
Huber Calori, Bergamo;
Galleria d’Arte Mazzoleni, Turin;
Private Collection, Italy

Warhol was drawn to the glamorous world of Hollywood, fashion, and celebrity. He carried this interest in pop culture into his artwork, creating iconic paintings of mega-stars such as Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, and Elizabeth Taylor.
Through his art, Warhol became a celebrity himself and came in contact with almost every famous star in the 60‘s, 70‘s and 80‘s, either socially or when they requested a portrait. He used this opportunity well and turned many of his celebrity portraits into paintings, with their wrinkles and defining features covered with white makeup so that the highlights of the facial structure were all that was left. Even with a simple outline, the face of a popular celebrity was unmistakable. The more recognizable the image, the greater the impact, especially when repeated, so Warhol often used stills from a star‘s most popular film when doing a celebrity series.
Warhol’s notoriety earned him huge fees for portraits of wealthy patrons who included John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Diana Ross, Brigitte Bardot, Liza Minnelli, Michael Jackson and the Shah of Iran. Among the commissioned works was also the portrait of Linda Cossey, an attractive blonde film-maker, whom Warhol had met in 1980 through the art dealer Edmund Caultney. Besides this painting, he realized another portrait of her peeking out from behind her film-camera, a pose that was extremely familiar to Warhol, who spent most of his own time behind his own camera. In this sense, Cossey became something more than just the subject of one of Warhol’s famous portraits.

专家: Mag. Patricia Pálffy