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ANDY WARHOL 1928 - 1987 Four Marilyns (Reversal Series), 1979-1986 Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas Signed and dated 'Andy Warhol 79/86' on the reverse Authenticated by the Estate: A113.076 36 x 28 inches Provenance Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich L & M Arts, New York Jane Holzer, New York Bibliography D. Bourdon, Warhol, New York, 1989, p. 37 K. Honnef, Andy Warhol 1928-1987 Commerce into Art, Cologne 2000, p. 90
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ESSAY Signaling a new period of productivity in the artist’s work, the Reversals, alongside the contemporaneous Retrospectives introduced a new conceptual vigor to Warhol’s artistic practice. Taking his cue from the tradition of artists who have adapted, varied and transformed the art of their predecessors, Warhol, in an act of self-referential, post-modern brilliance, expropriated material from his own now famous repertoire of images, transforming and updating his classic Pop iconography of the 60s. With his silkscreen process now honed to perfection, Marilyn (Reversal Series) from 1979-1986 is one of the best examples from this powerfully post-modern body of work, which pivots on the Duchampian notion of the readymade. Warhol had previous appropriated images from the canon of art history, in his 1963 serial painting depicting Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, provocatively re-titled Thirty are Better than One. Warhol's interest in Leonardo's masterpiece, however, was less about its art historical significance and more to do with its celebrity status. Exceptionally released from the safekeeping of the Louvre for a brief visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art that year, the media frenzy surrounding the visit of this normally immovable painting drew hoards of people curious to experience its alluring enigma. Little more than fifteen years later, Warhol's own paintings and celebrity status were so aggrandized that his instantly recognizable image of Marilyn Monroe befitted the same treatment as the Mona Lisa. As David Bourdon explained: "Warhol's Reversals recapitulate his portraits of famous faces...but with the tonal values reversed. As if the spectator were looking at photographic negatives, highlighted faces have gone dark while former shadows now rush forward in electric hues. The reversed Marilyns, especially, have a lurid otherworldly glow, as if illuminated by internal footlights." (David Bourdon in Warhol, New York, 1989, p. 378) The present work presents a myriad of prismatic, cool hues. Her visage is a gradation of violet, aqua, cyan and butter yellow with a lush, painterly texture. The intimate scale of the single Marilyn image, glowing through the outline of her eyes, lips and hair has the air of a sacred icon – an object for worship. In Marilyn Monroe, whom he painted shortly after her premature death in 1962 at the height of her celebrity, Warhol found a memento mori which could unite the obsessions driving his career. As a star of the silver screen and the definitive international sex symbol of her era, Marilyn epitomized the fame and glamour of celebrity that Warhol craved. The vibrant colors in Marilyn (Reversal Series) recall the vibrant and shocking palette of Warhol's earlier Marilyns, in which he had deliberately chosen lurid, conflicting hues to transcend the humanity of the recently deceased star. Through negative printing, however, Warhol achieves a ghostly dematerialization of his subject, with the shadowy faces now reduced to their recognition value, their memory value alone. Although still recognizable and legible thanks to its common currency, Warhol's manipulations neutralize the power of the original image to convey meaning so that in Marilyn (Reversal Series) the emphasis is less on the celebrity of the sitter and more on that of the artist himself, less a depiction of the starlet and more a reflection on Warhol's own artistic past. Having reanalyzed his own pictorial inventions in the Reversals series, Warhol devoted much of his 1980s creative practice to exploring the creative practices of his predecessors. In a broad range of compositions, Warhol directly lifted imagery from artists as varied as Boticelli, Munch and de Chirico, subjecting each to his leveling silkscreen technique, both alienating and transforming the image into a quintessential Warhol. The present work stands at the pinnacle of Warhol's appropriation-based paintings and not only questions the notions of authorship, authenticity and originality in art but also probes the legitimacy of Warhol's own artistic code.
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Pierre-Antoine HERITIER
Conservateur-Restaurateur SCR / SKR Association Suisse de Conservation et Restauration
CONDITION REPORT Andy Warhol Four Marilyns (Reversal Series), 1979-1986 Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas Signed and dated 'Andy Warhol 79/86' on the reverse Authenticated by the Estate: A113.076 36 x 28 inches
The piece has been controlled on October, 2019, the 28th.
CURRENT STATE OF CONSERVATION The piece has been controlled under an incident light, a raking light, and an UV lighting. The piece is good condition and we did not notice particular damages. -The non-varnished surface is very dusty and we can notice several wiping traces, see pictures 1045 to 1055: We did not observe accidentally polished areas on the painted surfaces. -A crushing area with a modification of the surface is located in the lower left third: in this area there is also a loss. See pictures n° 1109 and 1110. On the reverse there is an other area with the same crushed aspect and it is not impossible that these could be inherent defect: see picture n°1118. The lower right angle has a small superficial wear , see picture n° 1112. -The pictures of details show cracks at the level of the angles and along the angles of the edges but they are inherent to the piece and have been caused by the mounting of the canvas on the stretcher: it is absolutely common on this kind of pieces. -Uneven areas (documented by pictures) are also inherent to the serigraphic implementation and work of the artist: see pictures n°925 to 929 and 930 to 937 for the red version, n°991 to 999 for the black version. -None accident at the level of the canvas has been noticed: there is no bump or sinking. The mounting seems original, the canvas is in general slightly slack and we have noticed a central undulation. Edges are in good condition, without accident or handling traces. -The control under UV lighting has confirmed that the surface is free from retouches visible under an UV light. -The reverse of the canvas is in good condition: there is no mould or humidity stain, there is no tear at the level of the crosspieces, the signature is in perfect condition: see pictures n°1114 to 1138. Following pictures, n°1033 to 1138 document the current report. Geneva, the 29th October 2019
This document/quotation is strictly confidential and has been done at the intention of its addressees. Any non-authorized use or distribution, even partially, and in any way is forbidden
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