Filed under: Odds and ends, Apple, Apple History
Bid on this Andy Warhol Apple logo serigraph
I love art. I love Apple products. When the two intersect, I get very interested. For example, I have an original Nitrozac oil painting hanging on my office wall depicting Steve Jobs announcing the iPhone at Macworld Expo 2007.TUAW reader Ramy sent us a tip about an Andy Warhol serigraph that is currently up for auction at O'Gallerie in Portland, Oregon. The silkscreen color print (photo at right) was commissioned by Del Yocam, who was Apple's first COO and head of the Apple II division during the 1980s. Yocam is now on the Board of Directors of Adobe Systems.
While we'll never know why this iconic Warhol is up for grabs, if you have $20-30K just burning a hole in your pocket, now you have something to spend it on.
Peter O'Grady of O'Gallerie was kind enough to give us permission to reproduce the image of the Warhol serigraph, and noted that Portland readers can attend the auction on May 6th at 7 PM PDT.
(Don't worry. I won't be bidding against you.)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mark said 5:19PM on 4-29-2009
$20-30k for a print (#142/190)!!??!?!?!?! Absolutely insane. How much is the original worth?
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Marc said 7:18PM on 4-29-2009
It's a silk screen, so there is no "original." He probably drew each color separately drawing/tracing promotional material.
Joseph said 5:35PM on 4-29-2009
Warhol would be laughing if he was around today. His whole artistic campaign was the anti-Thomas Kincaid. It was one giant slam against commercialism and society. The fact that his artwork would culminate in the method contrary to his message would be an ironic twist.
There was a reason that he made hundreds of the same images and used iconography like campbells and marilyn.
The one thing that is cool is that he died in 87, he never got to see what apple has become. I would buy an ipod litho done in warhol style just to continue the conversation in his name.
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required said 6:56PM on 4-29-2009
Warhol was commercialism and much of society dug that. I personally have never been a fan of his paintings but I love the other things he was involved in such as the Velvet Underground.
VanillaSpice said 11:33PM on 4-29-2009
Yeah, maybe, in an alternative universe where Apple used to be some kind of anti-company but is now a cruel and evil entity dedicated to the ruthless exploitation of unknowing consumers.
As for Andy Warhol being anti-commercialism, you could not be more wrong. Warhol openly embraced commercial society, market culture, and materialism. His artwork did not mock it. He was attacked in the 60s for capitulating to consumerism!
Warhol was an entrepreneur who said, "Making money is art, and working is art and good business is the best art." By the late 70s and early 80s he was often criticised for being a "business artist".
And how about his famous Coca-Cola quote - "You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it."
"All the cokes are good" ... yeah, he was really anti-commercialism, right!
Joseph said 12:16AM on 4-30-2009
Those quotes are not quite in context. You are not conveying the voice he was speaking. Do I think he would have denied 20K for one of his paintings? No, he would have laughed it to the bank and then given a million-dollar quote to boot. Maybe even propagating comercialism with his quote. But arguing on the internet is like like running in the special olympics. Even if you win, you're retarded.
When Andy was asked if he would like his pictures on as many walls as possible he replied, "No, I like them in closets." Context is everything. Was he being legit? If I can make fun of you and get a million dollars doing it, why wouldn't I? This was Pop Art, it was new, edgy and amazing. We've had Dada and now we need purpose. Pop Art was purposeful.
You miss the sarcasm in his voice. He was also quoted as saying, "The most beautiful think in Tokyo is McDonalds. The most beautiful thing in Florence is McDonalds. The most beautiful thing in Stockholm is McDonalds." He didn't really think that, but only he knows the truth.
Herbal Remedies said 7:57PM on 5-04-2009
Technology and art should not necessarily be accompanied but in cases like Apple need to see that comparison ... I agree that adds value to a technological tool with the styles of different artists ...
Herbal Remedies
http://www.naturals-products.com
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Ed said 7:28PM on 4-29-2009
I would say at $30,000 it's a good investment. Expensive certainly, but likely to go up in value.
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changsc said 12:35PM on 4-30-2009
I have an artist proof x/30 obtained in the mid-90's. Glad to see this sort of appreciation!
Namdnal Siroj said 5:51AM on 4-30-2009
AW liked commercialism +1 vote.
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bobrk said 7:04PM on 4-30-2009
I remember when these were being sold at local galleries back in the 80's. I wish I had the $10k to spend on one back then.
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Steven said 11:22PM on 4-30-2009
On January 15, 1997 I bought the same serigraph for $7,200! It was #84/190. I paid about $50 to have it framed in a 48" x 48" plexi box and it hung over the fireplace of my current & previous house. In need of funds, I sold it on March 15, 2005, for $15,000, back to the broker I bought it from! I'm sure he probably had a buyer who was going to pay $20-25K, but oh well, I still doubled my money. Being in the Mac repair business, I loved to show it off to my customers. Hope whoever buys it, enjoys it as much as I did mine.
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Steven said 11:24PM on 4-30-2009
OOPS! Framing was $450. My fingers must be faulty.