Presented in partnership with United Kingdom Sotheby's International Realty, this powerful example of Andy Warhol's renowned silkscreen portraits, his portrait of Joseph Beuys, achieves a remarkable fusion of resemblance and individuality. Andy Warhol and Joseph Beuys, the towering figures of post-war art in America and Germany, first met at an exhibition opening at Galerie Hans Meyer in Düsseldorf in May 1979.
The two artists crossed paths multiple times after their initial encounter, most notably during the installation of Beuys’s major retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York in November 1979. It was on this occasion that the idea for this celebrated series of portraits was initiated. Beuys then visited Warhol’s studio, The Factory, to have his picture taken, coincidentally arriving at the very moment when Georgia O’Keeffe was being photographed. Warhol relied on his Polaroid Big Shot camera to immortalise the timeless image of Beuys in his distinctive and iconic felt hat and sleeveless jacket. These Polaroid photographs subsequently became the foundation for a series of screen-printed portraits created between 1980 and 1986.
This mysterious and alluring work is on offer as part of the Contemporary Day Auction, including the Ralph I. Goldenberg Collection taking placing at Sotheby's London on 26 June.
